Time For Change
by laurampet
Summary: Willow leaves Sunnydale and becomes involved in a world nobody would have expected from her. Crossover with the WWE.
1. Prologue

DISCLAIMER: This is absolutely a work of fiction and I do not claim to own anything related to the WWE or Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  
NOTE: This is a crossover between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and wrestling. Vampires do exist in this world and wrestling storylines are scripted but the actual matches are legitimately fought and the winners are typically not pre-determined.

**PROLOGUE**

Thirteen year old Willow Rosenberg could not erase the obvious look of fear and dismay that had suddenly consumed her expression as she stared at her uncle Theo. Currently she was on break from school for the summer and her parents, Sheila and Ira, had informed her that they were going out of town for a week and that she was not to be trusted at home by herself. As a result she had been carted off to stay with Theo and he had just informed her of the event they would be attending that evening...a taping for professional wrestling. Upon realizing her horror over the situation he had to laugh and, without losing his jovial expression, gently placed a hand on his niece's shoulder. "Willow, it's not the end of the world you know." She stared at him as though he was clinically insane and widened her clear green eyes innocently. "Couldn't I get hurt if something goes wrong, though?"

A deep sigh was released from his 5'7 tall frame and Theo had to resist the urge to shake her with the hand that still rested on the young girl's shoulder. "Hon, these seats were given to me by a friend...I'm sure there is plenty of distance between our seats and the ring. You'll be fine! Besides, don't you think it would be rude for me to return these tickets shortly after they were given to me?" He forced himself not to reveal the devious smile he could feel creeping up on him, he knew the best way to get through to her was by using her strong sense of being polite and also that she would hate to feel rude. Willow was too busy trying to deal with the sudden onslaught of nerves she felt over the idea of being in an arena crowded to the brim with strangers to realize his manipulation and after taking a deep breath she looked up to him and offered a weak smile. "Fine, uncle Theo. But only if you promise to buy me some popcorn."

Four hours later the pair was exiting the building among the very busy rush of people leaving the building at once and Willow was clinging desperately to her uncle's hand, although instead of looking fearful she couldn't keep the expression of pure joy from overtaking her face. She had just left the arena after arguably the most exciting night of her life and Theo figured it would be safe to say that he had made a wresling fan out of his reserved niece, a fact which he wouldn't have ever believed without being witness to the revelation firsthand. Willow had taken to the violent action in a way that was unpredictable, though if he was forced to make a guess it would be that she had found it as a way to release tension that built up from being picked on. He would have been correct.

The shy girl had been quiet for the first half hour of the evening, adjusting to being crammed in among such a large, boisterous crowd. However, once the action had begun she found herself yelling at the wrestlers she perceived to be "nasty and mean" and cheered just as relentlessly for those being painted in a more positive light. There was something about losing herself in the moment that felt really good, for a brief amount of time she hadn't been little Willow Rosenberg...resident brain and an easy target for bullying. Instead she was just another girl in a sea of faces eagerly watching if their favorite superstar would reign victorious. Nothing set her apart, no special attention would be payed to her, and that was a notion she could find herself becoming fond of. From the moment she had walked out of that arena, Willow Rosenberg promised herself that she would no longer be a pushover. If a bully tried to take advantage of her she would just have to pull off a submission hold on them.


	2. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

Willow Rosenberg's lips drifted upwards into a wistful smile as she recalled the evening, seven years ago, when she had made a silent promise to herself that she wouldn't ever roll over for another person again. It had been a mentality that lasted for no more than a few days, the moment she had returned home she could feel the resolve fading away. Her parents were furious that her uncle Theo had brought her to the wrestling event and informed their daughter that she would no longer be allowed to visit him. It had upset her enough that she spoke up to them and said that she wanted to visit him in the future, a small rebellion that had revoked her freedom for the remainder of the summer. Once it had been time for school to begin again she had nearly forgotten about the feeling of freedom being at the event had unleashed.

The event that had sparked her memory returned to mind and the small smile disappeared much quicker than it had arrived. Willow had decided to join her friends at the Bronze the previous evening, hoping for a relaxing night out with her best buds and a small reprieve from doing research on the demon who had been recently pestering them. Instead she found Buffy Summers and Xander Harris spending time with their significant others. The blonde Slayer was dancing with Riley out on the floor and her best friend since childhood had his hands all over Anya, making out with her. When the small group had noticed Willow a common look of "oh crap, she came," had shown on their faces.

At first she had been able to ignore their expressions and kept her own bright smile on her face. Recently she had separated from her own boyfriend, Oz, because of his infidelity and it had broken her heart. She hadn't been much fun and spent much of her time alone, crying in the dorm room she shared with Buffy. So the fact that they were less than thrilled to see her hadn't hurt too terribly. It was only when she had approached them and all four looked at the ground that she had perceived something to be wrong. Quickly they informed her that they were hoping for some couple's only time, and wasn't she supposed to be researching something or other? That had set her off, the uncommon but widely feared Rosenberg rage being let loose on them. The redhead had stomped out of the club, leaving four shocked faces behind her.

Currently she was in her old bedroom, the one located in her parents' house. She hadn't been there since moving most of her stuff to the dorm but after blowing up at Buffy and the rest of the gang, she hadn't wanted to face them. Despite having classes scheduled for the day, Willow had decided to skip them and spent her time lounging around in comfortable pajamas watching some television. She grabbed the remote from the dresser next to her and, without looking at it, clicked the sound off, having decided to call her friend so she could apologize for the previous evening. Her eyes were locked onto the phone that was still sitting next to her and with a deep breath, Willow picked it up and dialed the number for their dorm.

"Hello?" Riley's voice filtered through the line and the redhead stared at the phone in her hand, wondering if she had dialed the wrong number. "Hello, is anybody there?" His voice repeated. Shaking her head and clearing her mind of the confusion that had set in, Willow finally responded to his prompting. "Riley, this is Willow. Did I ring up the wrong number or something?" Across town, the soldier shook his head before realizing there was no way she would be able to see his movement. "Nope, you have the right place. Buffy is in the shower...." Pausing, he listened as the sound of the doorknob rattling caught his attention and the door swung open, revealing a pretty blonde.

"Riley?" Willow was confused by his sudden silence and instead of hearing his voice respond to her, the voice that came through was Buffy's and she sounded a bit irritated. "Do you want something?" At first the redhead was taken aback by the tone but she chalked it up to the other girl's not knowing she was the person on the line. She had no way to realize that the man she had been on the phone with previously had mouthed her name to his girlfriend. "Buffy, it's me." "I know. Do you want something?" This was not going the way she had hoped, but instead of the apology she had been planning, Willow responded with her own irritated tone. "No, I guess not. I had called to say I was sorry for last night but maybe my reaction wasn't as uncalled for as I thought. Goodnight, Buffy."

She pressed the end button and stared at the black object in her hand, disbelief and hurt clear in her expression. Clearly she hadn't been very rational the night before, but one outburst didn't warrant the reaction she had gotten from her blonde friend. Willow could name more than one occasion where Buffy had yelled and her and been promptly forgiven, but perhaps that was because she was a more forgiving person. Abruptly another smile formed on her face as she once again recalled the event from seven years ago. It was never too late to grow a backbone and from this moment on out she was going to stand up for herself, she was a grown woman and it was time to start acting that way.


	3. Chapter 2

It had been a few days since Willow had hung up the phone on Buffy and she still hadn't spoken to any of her friends, even Xander. She had gone back to her classes and made sure to avoid running into her blonde friend but the avoidance act was beginning to get old and as much as she didn't want to face them, Willow knew that it was only a matter of time before she bit the bullet and made contact again. The time she had spent away from them was filled with much soul searching and after going through her decision for several days, she knew what she wanted to do and was aware that no matter how angry they may have been at her, they wouldn't enjoy the conclusion she had arrived at. Taking a deep breath, the redhead raised her fist and knocked solidly on the door in front of her.

A few moments later, the door swung open and she was met with the face of Rupert Giles, the former librarian and current mentor of the Scooby Gang. She offered him a weak smile and raised her hand to give him a tiny wave. His stern expression had melted when he realized who was on the other side of the door immediately he removed the glasses from his face and began cleaning them. "Hello, Willow." He stepped away from the door and motioned her to come in, giving her a nonverbal invitation to enter his home. She accepted and the nerves in her stomach began to act up once again, despite being unable to see beyond the door she knew the rest of the gang was inside because they always met on Thursday evenings.

The first person to acknowledge her was Xander, and despite the recent tension between them, he quickly came over and wrapped his best friend in a tight hug, whispering quietly into her ear, "I missed ya, Will." A genuine smile appeared on her lips and she returned the hug with gusto, relieved that he didn't seem to hate her but unsure that his good will would last after her announcement. When the two separated she looked beyond him and saw Buffy who was looking at her with a cautious expression that didn't seem to contain anger. The butterflies in Willow's stomach began to flutter as she approached the blonde and without any words, pulled her into a loose embrace that the Slayer seemed to return.

"I'm sorry about the past few days, you guys. I don't have much to say about how I've been acting lately, but I have to tell all of you something and I hope you don't hate me." The group, which also included Anya and Riley, just looked at her and she was unnerved by silence which had fallen when she entered the small apartment. Finally the redhead sighed and looked at the ground, unable to look into the eyes of all of her friends. "Lately, I've been thinking about how life here in Sunnydale has been going and I'm not too sure I want to stay." Her voice trailed off and she lifted her eyes back up to see the reaction her words had garnered. It wasn't a surprise when Xander immediately walked over to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "C'mon, Will. How can you say that? I know things haven't been going great lately with Oz leaving and..."

"That's not the only reason, Xander! You should know me well enough that you realize I wouldn't consider leaving because of something like that." Willow took a deep breath and fixed her gaze on the wall so she wouldn't have to look at any of them as she continued. "When I decided not to go off to college it was because I thought I could make a difference, help save lives, and I think I've accomplished that. But...I just don't think I'm happy and I don't think I can evolve as a person if don't get out of this town! I'm content here, but that just isn't enough. I'm only nineteen years old and I don't want to stay here and find out a few years later that I regret not going out into the world while I was still young. Being here on the Hellmouth has made me realize that life is really short, you never know when your time is going to be up and I want to experience life."

She sighed and gathered up the will to look at her friends again, not entirely happy with what she saw. Xander was staring at her in shock, apparently surprised with what she was saying. Anya simply looked bored, she was staring at her nails and only smiled when her boyfriend removed his hand from Willow's shoulder. Riley was holding onto Buffy's hand, and it was the blonde's expression that had Willow growing concerned. Buffy looked irritated with what she had just said and didn't bother hiding it. "Willow, that doesn't make any sense! You experience a lot here! You help us with research and...." At those words, the redhead's eyes grew just a small bit colder and she couldn't hide the hurt that was in them. "Is that all I am to you, Buffy? A researcher? There have been several nights when you guys went out and had fun, leaving me here with Giles to try and prevent the next Big Bad from attacking us."

An apologetic look was thrown to Giles as she voiced one of her biggest pet peeves about how the group treated her. "Giles, it's not that I don't want to be around you..." He cut her off gently, "I know, Willow." Her apologetic look became grateful and she gave him a bright smile before returning her attention to the girl in front of her. "It would be nice if you invited me out with you more. I haven't been the funnest person to be around since Oz left, I know this, but do you remember when the thing with Angel happened?" She ignored the small glare Buffy shot at her with the mention of the souled vampire, knowing that the Slayer tried to avoid the topic around Riley. "I was there for you and when the same thing happened to me, I felt almost abandoned."

Buffy's glare melted and left her looking unsure. "C'mon. You know it's not like that!" "That's the thing, Buff. I'm not sure it isn't and that's another reason I feel like I need to leave Sunnydale for awhile. I love you guys but lately it feels like you've been taking me for granted and I hate that!" Her resolve to remain unemotional began to crumble and Willow could feel her eyes begin to burn as tears started to form. "I love you guys," she repeated, "and I don't want any of you to think that it's changed. I just want to go out there and be my own person, y'know? You've helped me so much, Buffy, when we first met I was an overly shy nerd and it's only because of you that I came out of my shell. I want to know that I can become better on my own, and staying here in Sunnydale won't allow that to happen. I don't want to leave forever!"

The tension in the room was becoming unbearable and Willow couldn't even look at her two best friends. Tears were already beginning to stream down her face and she didn't know what to do. Instead of looking at them she turned her attention to Giles, the only person in the room she felt she could face. "I'm sorry." With those final words she picked up the purse she had dropped when Xander came over to hug her and headed for the door, none of the people in the room moving to stop her. Turning to take a final look around, careful not to leave her gaze on any of her friends for too long, Willow opened the door and exited the apartment. When the door was closed behind her she finally began to sob.


	4. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

After taking a few minutes to wait for her sobs to reside, Willow decided it would be best for her to go back into the apartment and try to smooth the ruffled feathers she had created with the big announcement. She wasn't going to change her mind but she wanted all of them to really understand how much thought she had put into her decision. Hearing voices on the other side of the door, she slowly turned the knob and began to open the door but froze with it still open slightly when she heard her name being mentioned by Xander who was trying to console the blonde Slayer. "...Willow is never going to have the guts to actually leave. She's just blowing off some steam." The words were enough for her to shut the door again, nobody on the other side having realized she was able to hear the last snippet of conversation.

Carefully closing the door again so they wouldn't realize she had heard, Willow stood on the doorstep with a look of mild shock on her face. So they didn't think she had it in her to leave, huh? She stood there for another minute, trying to decide if she should be angry and leave or if she should still go back in and explain herself. If they didn't have the confidence in her, maybe they didn't deserve another chance to try and talk her out of it. Despite her resolve to leave town, she knew that enough convincing from her friends would leave her stranded in Sunnydale, possibly never to leave. That was a possibility she wasn't prepared for, and if she ended up staying it would only prove them right; that she wasn't strong enough to leave and go out on her own.

Closing her eyes, Willow reached into her pocket and removed the cell phone she had purchased earlier in the week when making arrangements for her departure. Turning to take one last look at Giles' door, she allowed a small smile to come over her face and confidently turned to walk back to her parents' house. With the cell phone in hand, she clicked onto her contacts and scrolled until the name she was looking for came onto the screen...yesterday she had been forced to search the house for an old address book and was lucky enough to come across the man whom she was trying to find. Lifting the cell phone to her ear, she clicked send and waited for the familiar voice she hadn't heard in several years. After several rings, a male voice picked up. "Hello?"

"Is this Theodore Rosenberg?" With a suspicious tone in his voice, the man answered. "Yes, that would be me. Who is this, and what is this about?" Suddenly the confidence she was feeling drained away and Willow was left feeling unsure. Would he even want to hear from her after all these years? There was only one way to find out and she replied to him with a slight, nervous stutter in his voice. "U..Uncle Theo. This is Willow." She paused and waited to hear his response, letting out a deep sigh of relief when his tone completely changed into one of joviality. "Willow?! My God, I haven't heard from you for years! To what do I owe this pleasure?" Again she became a bit nervous but decided to just be out with it. "I was actually kind of hoping...maybe you would want to see me?"

Without waiting for a response, she continued to blabber on. "I understand if you don't want to...I mean, I haven't tried to speak with you for a long time and you might be mad. I would be kind of mad if someone stopped talking to me, but I promise it wasn't my fault! My parents just didn't want me talking with you and that's not an excuse but they were really mad about me going with you that one time and...." If he had not interrupted her, Willow would have gone on for hours. But luckily, he finally cut her off with a loud chuckle that stopped her in mid-sentence. "It would be fantastic to see you again, Hon! Honestly it's a surprise to be hearing from you now, but I'm really glad you decided to contact me again." The biggest smile she had felt in days came onto Willow's face and she couldn't help but beam happily after hearing his acceptance.

"Whew, I'm so glad you aren't angry! I promise to make it up to you though, and this semester of college is going to end tomorrow so...Wait! Do you still live in Los Angeles?" "That I do. You're more than welcome to come as soon as you want. I even have an extra room in this house for you to stay in if you'd like." "Really? Are you sure I wouldn't be a problem?" "Not at all, Hon. It's the least I can do after you made contact again." If at all possible, the smile on her face only grew larger. "That's really generous of you, Uncle Theo. I already looked up the bus times." She blushed, grateful that he wasn't able to see her. "I hope that wasn't too forward but...my bus should arrive at around seven o'clock in the evening if that would work?"

On the other side of the line, Theodore had a big smile of his own. There were no words to describe how pleased he was to be hearing from his niece; after his brother had chewed him out for bringing his _innocent _daughter to such a _violent_ event, it was a shock to hear from her at all. If he had known that bringing her to a wrestling match would end in being cut out of her life, he never would have gone through with it. After all, he had never been married and didn't have any children of his own so Willow was the closest thing he had to a daughter. Realizing that he had been silent for several moments, and that she was probably working herself up into a frenzy, he finally replied to her question.

"That's perfect! Are you going to be at the main bus station?" After working out the details of their meeting, Theo hung up the phone and shook his head in slight amazement. His niece had no way of knowing just how perfect her timing was. Her call had come in only a few hours after arriving home himself after an extended work-related trip out on the road. She hadn't known it at the time, but the reason he had acquired tickets to the event they attended seven years ago was because he had just been hired as a sound technician for the WWE. By now he had worked his way up the corporate ladder and was in charge of the sound department which was no small achievement. After shaking off the shock of hearing from Willow, he quickly went to work preparing his guest room for her arrival.


	5. Chapter 4

A/N: If you're reading and enjoy this story, I would love some reviews! Even if there are elements you don't like as much, constructive criticism is always welcome.

**CHAPTER FOUR**

The bus carrying Willow Rosenberg to her destination made its way speedily across the highway, rumbling lightly beneath the passengers. The gentle motion was enough to lull the redhead into a peaceful state of mind, relaxing nearly enough to fall sleep but not quite. Keeping her awake were the many thoughts running rampant through her pre-occupied mind, she was troubled enough that she was unable to settle down. Instead of getting some much needed rest, Willow was left to sit in her seat and recall the event that had happened in the morning before heading to the bus station. She had made a return trip to Giles' apartment, intent on avoiding her friends but unwilling to leave them without a final goodbye. Slowly her eyes began to feel heavy and, with the memory fresh in her mind, the redhead fell asleep.

_Nervously she stood on Rupert Giles' doorstep for the second time in as many days, her fist in front of her was rapping solidly on the door. Despite the early hour, she knew the Englishman would be awake because he rarely slept in past nine o'clock in the morning. Her suspicion was proven correct when the door opened, revealing a bright eyed Giles with a mug full of warm tea in his hand. She watched as his eyes lit in surprise at seeing her and offered a soft smile to the man she considered her mentor who was currently returning the look. "I'm afraid Buffy and Xander aren't here, Willow." His look changed into one of confusion when she simply nodded and stepped inside, closing the door slowly behind her. "I was actually banking on that, G-man." _

_That was a nickname she knew he hated but instead of becoming annoyed with her, he merely rose an eyebrow and looked at her with even more confusion. It was typically Xander who broke that one out, Willow was never less than respectful in the way she spoke with him. Instead of explaining her use of the name, she only laughed quietly and tried not to look too nervous. Finally she looked up and met his eyes straight on. "I wasn't coming here with a crazy idea yesterday, Giles. I've been thinking about this for a few days and..." Instead of cutting her off verbally, he raised a hand to silence her and shook his head, waiting for her to stop so he could respond. "You do realize I've been around you lot long enough to know you quite well?"_

_Willow nodded her head but didn't speak up, unsure what his point was. Her unasked question was answered a moment later when he resumed with an explanation. "You aren't the type of girl to make rash decisions...don't interrupt me." As soon as she opened her mouth to argue, Giles held up a single finger and after seeing her sigh, knew she wasn't going to cut him off. "That's a good thing. Now allow me to avoid a grand speech and get straight to the point. I know you've thought about this and I respect your decision. You're as near to me as any daughter and I would be lying to say I'm happy about your departure but that is your prerogative. Now, what did you really come here to see me about?"_

_She looked at him with slightly wide eyes, completely unaccustomed to hearing the reserved gentlemen speak so much and so openly. After a few moments of silence so she could regain her composure, the redhead reached into her purse and pulled out two letters. Each was marked with a name, one saying Buffy and the other Xander. A look of comprehension crossed Giles' face and he didn't look terribly pleased, a fact which Willow quickly realized. "This isn't the best way to handle the situation, but I won't let my best friends ruin this by convincing me to stay here in Sunnydale. You know they could, Giles. By the time you show them these," Her words were accentuated by a pointed gaze, as though she was daring him to refuse. "I'll be at least a few hours away and they won't be able to catch up."_

_Although her voice remained strong as she spoke, it was clear that she was still somewhat hesitant to carry through with her plan. However, after considering it for a few minutes, Giles became determined not to stand in her way and kept his negative opinion to herself. He genuinely wished her to stay but wanted to respect her decision, even though she may not have been certain of it. The silence had stretched on for a few long minutes before he broke it by crossing the room and gently removing the envelopes from her grip. "I'll be certain to give them these...when Buffy undoubtedly shows up to discuss her patrol with me." The two of them shared a warm smile and Willow made the move to pull him into a hug. "I really appreciate what you said today, Giles." Her voice was soft with emotion. "It means a lot to me that you aren't standing in my way, either." She gave him an uncharacteristic wink and quickly left the apartment before she changed her mind. _

A violent bump jerked the girl out of her sleep and Willow's body straightened abruptly, her arms coming up as though she was ready to fight someone off. Her body relaxed once again when she realized where she was and the redhead slid her hand into the pocket of her coat to pull out her cell phone. Checking the time that was displayed on the front, she found out that the nap had lasted for much longer than she anticipated and they would soon be arriving at their destination. She broke off into a smile when the lights of the bus station appeared up ahead of them and fifteen minutes later, Willow was stepping off the bus and already looking around for the uncle she had been separated from for the past seven years.

When he didn't come into sight immediately, her excitement began to fade and for a minute she began to wonder if he was pulling some type of cruel joke and never planned on meeting her. Her worries were put to rest when a familiar form finally came into view and began walking towards her. Willow carefully set her heavy duffel bag on the ground at her feet and concentrated on the man who was coming rapidly towards her with arms wide open. Expecting a hug from her uncle, she was completely unprepared when he lifted her up instead and swung her around. Once she was on her feet again, Theo pulled her into a much more conventional hug and was pleased to have her return the gesture despite her apparent shock. Finally she managed to spit out the first face-to-face words she had spoken to him in seven years. "I guess you're glad to see me, huh?"


	6. Chapter 5

Inwardly nervous but unwilling to show it in her expression, Willow Rosenberg offered one final smile to her uncle before slowly turning around and stepping through the doorway that lead to the guest bedroom where she would be staying. Her two bags of luggage were neatly resting against the foot of the bed, having been left there when the pair arrived back from the bus station. She had barely been given enough time to leave them there when Theo had insisted on giving her a brief tour of the house, promising a better one the next day. He had made plans for her first day back with him, so once he had taken the time to show her the room where she would be staying, the kitchen, and the bathroom were located they were out the door and on their way to the first stop.

As it turned out, he had decided to take her out to a nice lunch at his favorite local diner. He insisted that their prices were fantastic for the quality food served there and once her own plate of chicken caesar salad was in front of her, she had to agree. It had felt strange to her, accepting the hospitality of a man who was nearly a stranger and she had insisted several times she could pay for her own share but he wouldn't relent. During the course of their meal, the two had worked on reconnecting after the long absence from each other's lives and their conversation stretched out for nearly two hours before they realized the diner was beginning to fill with people and needed their booth. From there they had decided it would be fun for Theo to show her a few places around town.

By the time they had returned to his apartment, Willow was exhausted from the day's activities and it wasn't until then that she really thought about the fact that she would be sleeping in a strange room. It wasn't something that appealed to her, staying in a place that she wasn't accustomed to. Casting a glance towards her two bags of luggage and trying to decide if she really felt like digging through them to locate a pair of pajamas, she finally shook her head to herself and walked over to the bed where she pulled back the covers and climbed in. Her eyes were already beginning to feel heavy and slowly reaching over to the bedside table, flipped off the light switch and closed her eyes. As she drifted off into a peaceful slumber, her final thoughts were about whether or not he would have to go to work the next day.

**********************************

Miles and miles away, back in Sunnydale, the rest of the Scooby gang were far from ready to fall asleep. The remainder of the group was gathered in Giles' living room despite the late hour as they had arrived to plan out the nightly patrol. Instead of thinking about that, they were currently discussing Willow's departure and it was then that the Englishman spoke up about the letters she had left in her wake. Clearing his throat to gain their attention and looking annoyed when they continued to speak over him, Giles finally stepped over to his stereo equipment and switched it on after turning up the volume knob. A loud song blasted through the speakers and every person in the room leapt up in surprise and stared at him in shock.

Concealing a tiny smile at their reaction, he switched it back off and cleared his throat once again. "As I was trying to tell you, Willow did not just up and leave. She visited me this morning." Immediately following his announcement, Buffy and Xander crossed the room towards him with similar angry stares. "What?!" The blonde slayer snapped once she reached his side. "What do you mean, she stopped to see you?" Xander cut her off to add his own indignation. "You could have called to let us know, G-man!" After pausing a moment to glare his disapproval over the nickname, Giles turned and looked at the brunette man. "She asked me to keep it quiet for a few hours and I decided to abide by her request."

That stopped Xander in his tracks and an expression of confusion graced his features but he remained quiet. Buffy, on the other hand, wasn't silenced quite as easily. "So you just let her go? Giles! Who knows where she went off to. She could be in danger!" Although he nearly scoffed at her exclamation, he instead settled with a raised eyebrow and rose a hand to indicate that he was going to speak. "I'm not sure where she went, Buffy, but she did leave a letter for both you and Xander. Perhaps you will find some answers." With that, he stepped away from the irate girl and over to his desk where he had placed them for safekeeping. Once he retrieved them, he passed the letters to their respectful owners and stood back so Buffy and Xander could read them without Giles looking over their shoulders.

_Buffy,  
I'm guessing that you're pretty peeved at me right about now, I can only hope that Giles listened to my request and I'm not already back with you guys. Don't get me wrong, I love you and Xander dearly but I knew if I spoke with you guys again you would have changed my mind. This is something I need to do and I promise that it's not anything permanent. I'll be back in Sunnydale before you know it, I bet you won't even miss me! Let Riley know I say "hi" and don't be too angry at Giles for keeping my departure quiet._

_PS: I'll give you a call within the next couple of days so you know that I'm safe. I love you. - Willow_

Immediately upon having the letter handed to her, Buffy had ripped it open and read it without wasting any time. An unreadable expression came onto her face and without any words she walked purposefully over to the weapons chest and flung it open. After pulling out a wicked looking but short bladed sword, she pushed the chest closed with one solid boot and moved towards the door to the apartment. Her back facing the other occupants of the room, she spit out the words "I need to go kill something!" And then she was gone. Xander had been standing wordlessly while she reacted to her letter, too nervous about the contents of his own to open it. With everyone else stunned to silence, he finally ripped the envelope and pulled out the letter Willow had written for him.

_Xander, my best bud:_

_Anything I write to you is going to sound like I'm trying to say goodbye and that is bNOT/b the case so don't even think it. Even though you reacted kind of badly to my announcement about wanting to leave, I honestly think you understand the reason I feel the need to do this. After all, you're the one that went on that ill-fated roadtrip and I'll still get the details about that one out of you some day! Even as I write this I already miss you and can't wait to see you again. Don't worry about my safety, I'm with family. Love you! - Willow_

Surprisingly, as he began to read the letter a small smile bloomed on his face and only grew larger as he got further into his note. By the end of it he had a full-fledged grin on his face and both Anya and Riley seemed confused by his reaction. The two had been silent for quite awhile which was uncharacteristic of the former demon, but even she could tell that speaking up during the tense moments after Giles' announcement would have been a bad idea. Xander approached his girlfriend and pulled her into a brief kiss, holding on to her hand afterward and casting a look to the Watcher. "We're going to head out, Giles. See ya later!" His crayon-breaky best friend would be back in her own good time and hopefully would get what she wanted out of the trip.


	7. Chapter 6

A/N: To be honest I'm not terribly well informed on the history of the WWE as I've only begun watching it again recently so I'm not going by any specific timeline in the show. I will reference some storylines and wrestlers that don't belong in the same time period so if you're the type of person that would be bothered by that, you may not want to read this story. Basically I plan on using wrestlers and events how they fit best into this story.

**CHAPTER SIX**

The tantalizing scent of frying bacon made its way through the air of the apartment and into the room Willow was currently sleeping in. Sleepily she blinked her eyes and sat up slowly, stretching out and letting loose a big yawn. This was her fourth day with Theo and she had finally become accustomed to waking up in a strange room. A smile spread across her face as she recalled the first morning she had woken up in the room she was beginning to think of as her own. She had leapt up out of the bed and knocked the lamp next to her over with a noisy crash and Theo had rushed into the room to check that she was alright. After explaining the situation the two had moved out into the kitchen and Willow learned that he was a good cook.

Knowing that he typically went all out for breakfast, seeing as it was his belief that it was the most important meal of the day, Willow couldn't wait to go and see what he had decided on making. After a few minutes where she changed into a fresh pair of jeans and a baggy sweatshirt, she wandered out and was greeted with a large smile on her uncle's face. He was standing over the stove and and looking over his shoulder, Willow could see two large omelettes and glasses of orange juice sitting on the counter. "Morning, Theo!" She stated brightly, returning his smile with one of her own. "Nice to see you finally waking up." He chuckled and gestured to the small dining table sitting a few feet away from him. "Take a seat, hon."

Although she felt like protesting and telling him she could retrieve her own food, she knew from experience that he would just stare at her and shake his head if she tried to help herself. With a dramatic sigh she planted herself in one of the chairs and he grabbed the two plates, setting one in front of her and the other at the seat next to hers. After grabbing the two glasses and some napkins he sat next to her. The next few minutes were spent quietly with both of them digging into their food and finally Willow broke the silence between them. "You know, I've been wondering something but I didn't want to ask because I've enjoyed having you to myself. Her face reddened slightly at the admission of her selfishness but the redhead quickly recovered.

Theo looked up from his plate and she could see the slight confusion in his eyes before she continued. "You must have taken a lot of time off work to spend all this time with me. You aren't going to get in trouble are you?" The confusion disappeared from his eyes and her uncle just laughed though she could tell that it wasn't meant to be mocking. "No, Willow. I'm not going to get in trouble." He could see the relief flash across her expressive face and smiled to himself. She wasn't quite finished with her line of questioning so after taking a few moments to sip her orange juice, she asked the second part of her question. "I've been here for almost five days and we've talked about nearly everything but I haven't asked what it is that you do."

He took a moment to consider his reply carefully before setting down his fork and looking straight at her. A small wave of nervousness welled up in her stomach at his movement, wondering what it was that he was going to say. Her anticipation didn't last very long. "You must remember the last time I saw you, seeing as it was the reason your parents forbid me from seeing you." Willow nodded in agreement so he continued. "I actually lied to you that night." She opened her mouth to say something but shut it when he kept talking, not wanting to interrupt him. "Those tickets didn't really come from a friend, they were from the company I work for." He waited for the light of comprehension he assumed his words would ignite.

When his niece didn't react, other than to stare at him questioning, he sighed. "And here I thought you were supposed to be the smart one!" His eyes twinkled with amusement, however, and took all the sting out of his words. "Willow, I work for the WWE." At this point she set down her own utensil and just stared at him with wide green eyes, too surprised to form words. He chuckled again and picked his fork back up, continuing to dig into his omelette. After a few minutes she was finally able to regain use of her vocal cords and her response came out louder than either anticipated. "WHAT?! Images of him beating up a huge faceless man were running through her head on repeat. "You're a _wrestler?!"_

"That would be much more exciting, but no." Theo shook his head. "I'm the head sound technician for Raw out on the road. When you hear their music come up before they enter? That's me. Actually, when you called me? I had just arrived back home from a long tour and I'm due out for another leaving a week from yesterday." He went back to eating and missed the crestfallen expression that had appeared when Willow heard he would be going again soon. She hadn't thought out how long her vacation from Sunnydale would last and had hoped it would be for at least few weeks. It had crossed her mind that he would have to work but unfortunately she had assumed it was a local job and that he wouldn't mind her staying with him for awhile.

Of course, she should have known that her freedom wouldn't last forever. Quietly she continued to eat her own breakfast and the pair was silent until both had finished with the plate in front of them. When she was done, Willow stood up and collected her dishes before bringing them over to the sink and rinsing them off. The pleasant vibe in the room had disappeared and become somewhat awkward as she wasn't sure what to say to him. "What day do you want me out of here?" Theo was finishing his own plate and wasn't aware of her mood change until she spoke. He looked slightly concerned as he brought his own gaze up to meet hers. "It's not a rush for you to leave, hon. You can stay here once I leave if you like?"

Before she could respond to his offer, he continued with a somewhat nervous tone in his voice. "I was actually going to ask if you wanted to come with me for a few weeks but...it didn't sound like you would want to leave your friends for so long." Once again his niece was shocked into silence and she could only stare at him before suddenly rushing over and enveloping him in a huge hug. "Are you serious?!" She asked as she separated from him, an uncharacteristic amount of excitement in her voice. "I could really come with? Wouldn't that be kind of a pain? Oh no! I would love to but I don't think I could afford that. I mean, I have money from my parents but that only goes so far. Maybe if I got a job here in Los Angeles I could save up enough to come with next time!"

She would have continued to go on babbling but he gently cut into her rant. "Willow." The redhead was still speaking and his words went straight over her head. "Willow!" Finally she snapped out of her daze and looked at him, her face already turning red when she realized how that must have sounded. She shouldn't assume that he would even want her out on the road with him, it was probably an offer made out of pity or some other misguided effort. The girl was so busy beating herself up internally that she wasn't hearing his words. Once he realized that she wasn't listening to him, Theo reached out and clasped her shoulder gently. Again she snapped out of it and looked at him, her face still bright red.

"I've spoken with my boss already, just in case you decided to come with. Now, this wouldn't be a free ride, he said it would be alright for you to come along under the condition that you would be working." He raised a hand to cut off her questions. "We didn't work out anything specific, I didn't want to jump the gun just in case you turned down the offer. What do you say?" Instead of replying right away, Willow threw her arms around her uncle for the second time that morning. "I would love to! I can't believe that you would do that for me. Are you sure this would be alright? I wouldn't want to intrude." Despite her utter excitement she had to make sure he was genuinely alright with her accepting the offer.

Theo smiled warmly before throwing an arm around her should. "Willow, I would never have asked Mr. McMahon if I truly didn't want you to come with. Honestly it's kind of a surprise that he said yes, typically he isn't quite so charitable." Although she rarely caught an episode, the redhead realized the true magnitude of the situation when the head honcho's name was brought up. Even without knowning much about the business, Willow knew that Mr. McMahon was the head of the entire company and that her uncle going to him was not something to be taken lightly. Finally the reality of the situation hit her and she began to shake slightly. "Wow, I never...never believed something like this would happen. Not to me!" Willow took a deep breath and met Theo's eyes again. "Yes, I would love nothing more than to come with you on the road.


	8. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

Several more days had passed since Willow had agreed to accompany Theo on the road. They had set up a meeting with Mr. McMahon to decide where she would be best placed to work and were just now pulling into the parking lot of the restaurant where they agreed to get together. It was far nicer than any she had been to before and Willow was suddenly feeling an extreme case of nerves. This was really happening, Willow Rosenberg was about to meet with the head of the WWE to discuss a job. Never in all of her life would she have imagined this moment. She had been thinking about this day since she had found out it would be happening and knew that if she wasn't able to pull herself together it would never work out.

The days between arranging the meeting and actually going through with it had been spent on improving her confidence and psyching herself up. Willow had even discussed with her uncle the idea of putting on a facade, thinking it would help her in the long run. Acting had never been something she enjoyed, the thought of getting up in front of a crowd made her feel ill but at the same time, becoming someone she was not could possibly be beneficial. Willow Rosenberg would never have the guts to be involved with the wrestling world but using the power of her mind knew she could succeed in fooling herself as well as everyone else. In the end they had decided the redhead would try and go through with it, nothing too terrible would happen if it backfired.

After taking a moment to pull in a deep breath, she silently steeled herself and stepped out of Theo's car with a fresh attitude. This was going to work out for the best and she would settle for nothing less than that. Allowing a confident smile to settle on her face, she nodded to her uncle and watched as he pulled away. The second thing they had decided was that she would be going in on her own, they wanted to make it clear that she could handle herself without backup. When his car was out of sight, the confidence she was feeling dipped slightly but she shook her head fiercely and forced herself to ignore her nerves. Finally she felt strong enough to enter the restaurant and walk up to the girl at the front. "I'm here to meet with a Mr. McMahon?" The girl nodded and smiled at her. "He's right over here. Follow me."

Willow trailed behind her and pulled in another deep breath when she saw the man in question sitting at the booth, sipping on a glass of water. He looked up when the pair of women approached and stood, offering his hand to the redhead. "Good to meet you, Miss Rosenberg." She took his hand and shook it strongly, dipping her head in greeting. "Same to you, Mr. McMahon." As the hostess walked away, the two sat on opposite sides of the table. "Let's not waste any time, shall we?" Not sure what to say, Willow simply shook her head and replied. "Good idea." They sat in silence for a minute before Vince started the conversation once again. "I didn't say this to your uncle when we spoke, but I already have a good idea in mind for what you can do for us. At the moment we're currently lacking in female talent."

Her green eyes widened slightly in anticipation of how he would continue that sentence. It seemed as though he could sense her reluctance to reply and instead of beating around the bush he got straight to the point. "Typically we don't do things this quickly but I want to sign you to a six-month developmental deal. Of course we wouldn't put you out in the ring right away, you would have to go through training beforehand, but we could use your services straight away as a valet." Noticing her blank expression he offered an explanation. "A valet is one of the women who simply accompany a wrestler out to the ring. Quite frankly you would be acting as eye candy and if the fans take a liking to you we can develop more of a character."

The mention of the word character sparked a fresh burst of resolve in the pretty redhead. A character, that was what she would be playing. It wouldn't be the mousy old Slayerette accompanying wrestlers in the ring, instead there would be someone else in her place. Wasn't this what she wanted to accomplish by leaving Sunnydale? Proving that she could be on her own and not be forced to depend on anybody else? Sure, she had wanted to leave behind the danger of living on a Hellmouth and being surrounded by men who made their life causing violence wouldn't exactly be a walk in the park. On the other hand, there was a definite difference between a demon and muscular humans. Plus she knew that her uncle would never ask her to join him in a dangerous world.

With all of those thoughts in mind she finally stared straight into the eyes of the man who sat across from her. Offering up a smile she hoped was cocky, Willow forced one of her eyebrows to raise in an unconscious replication of a former wrestler and gave a confident nod. "Assuming that you'll allow my uncle to look over any contract you may write up, I'm inclined to accept your offer. I also want to take this opportunity to thank you for allowing me to make myself useful. I would promise not to let you down, however it's not my place to make potentially false promises. What I can do is let you know that I will do everything in my power to keep myself from becoming a liability." For the first time since their meeting, Mr. McMahon gave her a genuine smile which she returned in kind.

"In that case, Miss Rosenberg, it was a pleasure doing business with you and I expect for great things to come of this." He gestured towards a black leather briefcase which was resting against the side of the booth. "If you would like to contact your uncle, I have a contract written up right here." Willow struggled to keep the surprise from showing on her face that he had been prepared for her to immediately accept and was pleased to note that he hadn't seemed to notice her reaction. After regaining control of her emotions she nodded and pulled her recently obtained cellphone from her pocket and hit the third speed dial. "Hey, Theo? Would you mind turning around and coming back? I have news you wouldn't believe."


	9. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

Four hours had passed from the time she signed her name and up to the current moment. Once her uncle had shown up to the restaurant and overcome his shock regarding the announcement, he had carefully scanned over the contract that had been written up for Willow. Upon reading it, he had been satisfied that everything was up to par and made certain that his niece realized she would be tied to the company for a minimum of six months with the chance of it becoming extended should her character go over well with the crowds. Keeping the word she had given to her soon-to-be-boss, Willow had grabbed his pen and signed her full name with a flourish. It had only been on the drive back to the apartment that she had realized the magnitude of her decision.

Immediately upon their return from the meeting and contract signing, Willow had went straight into her guest bedroom and told Theo that she needed to make a private call. Knowing that she was going to call her friends in Sunnydale, he had nodded and gone back outside for a cigarette. His habit was one that his niece was surprised to find out about but she hadn't bothered making a comment about it. Her conversation with her friends had not gone very well, Buffy was still refusing to talk to her. It was her opinion that her best friend was making a huge mistake by leaving the town she had spent her entire life in and that it was a decision she would come to regret. Although both Giles and Xander had tried to convince her to speak with Willow, the blonde was far too stubborn to listen.

Her best friend since childhood, however, understood her reasons for having to get away and wasn't too upset about her going to Los Angeles. When she called him to let him know that she had joined the WWE as a potential future Diva, his reaction had been far less understanding. He couldn't figure out why she had left one dangerous world only to enter another and made his thoughts clear to her. The result had been a huge argument between the pair and Willow had ended the conversation in an uncharacteristic hang up. Her father figure was another story altogether, Giles had made it clear that he disapproved of her actions but was unwilling to criticize her for them. The knowledge that none of her friends fully supported her had hurt more than she imagined possible.

After disconnecting from her call with Giles, Willow had joined her uncle outside as he finished his cigarette. The two had spoken briefly and he tried to convince her that they were only trying to look out for what they believed was her best interests. She had listened to him and admitted that she agreed but was still hurt. After that she had gone back into her bedroom and that was where she currently was. The intelligent redhead was surfing the internet reading up on current events when she heard a quiet knock at the door. "Come on in!" She called out, knowing that it was her uncle on the other side. Theo entered the room and sat at the edge of her bed, waiting while Willow closed the laptop. "What's up?"

"Listen, I know you're kind of bummed about what happened earlier but you shouldn't be holed up in this room. You made your choice and eventually they'll come around. Besides, aren't you excited about working with a WWE superstar?" His words were said in jest, knowing that while she was pleased to be coming with him on the road, it made no difference to her that she would be working with men most people could only dream of meeting. However, his words had the desired effect and she gave him a small smile. "It's just...I kind of thought they would be proud of me. Stupid, I know." She sighed before shaking her head. "But you're right and there is no way I'm going to sulk. How could I be upset about meeting up with a bunch of well-toned hotties?"

Secretly he was smiling, happy that she had walked straight into the trap he hadn't even realized he had been setting. "Good, I was hoping you would say that because I got us tickets to the house show tonight." She looked at him in surprise before he continued. "I thought it would be a good idea for you to see what you signed yourself up for. Maybe I should have done that before sending you to meet with Mr. McMahon." Honestly he had been completely stunned when he found out about the offer she received, it was extremely uncommon for potential divas to be signed without any formal training under their belt. He wondered if there was something neither of them knew about that had caused the offer to be made but he preferred not to worry it until there was good reason.

"Yeah, maybe you should have! I seem to remember having fun when you dragged me to that event years ago so I would love to go. What time does it start?" She checked the clock next to her, reading that it was six o'clock in the evening. Her eyes returned to Theo when she heard him give a short laugh. "Raw doesn't start until eight but I was thinking we could head backstage before it started so I can actually introduce you to a few of the guys. What do you say?" "I should get changed!" Willow was already thinking about what outfit she should wear, although she had never been very interested in fashion it seemed to her that making a good first impression would be important. She barely noticed when her uncle left the room, too busy going over a mental inventory of the wardrobe she had brought with her.

**********************************

Half an hour later they were pulling into the parking lot of the venue where the event that night was being held. Willow had chosen a fresh pair of jeans that were more form-fitting than she usually chose to wear. They had been a spur of the moment purchase several months ago when Buffy had dragged her out shopping. The shirt she was wearing was also a product of that afternoon, it was a simple black tank top that revealed more skin that she was typically comfortable showing. As they exited the car, however, she began to realize how demure her outfit really was. There was already a line of eager fans waiting to get in and many of the females were wearing outfits that made the redhead blush almost as bright as her hair.

Theo let his arm rest around his niece's shoulders and gently guided her past the line and towards the back entrance of the building. Two large security guards were standing in front of the door to ensure that nobody tried to sneak backstage. It was simply a matter of Theo's showing them a pair of passes and they were through the doors and walking into the building. Willow was already looking around with large eyes, not sure what to make of the confusing hallway filled with several doors on each side. She would easily have gotten lost if it wasn't for the man beside her, pulling her in the right direction. As they navigated through the hallway they passed several people who were hurrying around trying to get everything in order for the show.

The first real surprise of the night was when a flash of color caught her eye and if she hadn't been certain it was impossible, Willow may have thought it was her ex-boyfriend Oz. He was the only guy she knew who would have his hair match a color of the rainbow. Shaking her head and silently mocking herself for even thinking it, Willow didn't react as Theo pulled her through one of the doors, seemingly into a large dressing room. Looking around quickly, it became clear that the room was empty and she turned confused eyes on her uncle who only smiled. A minute later, the door opened once again and the largest man that she had ever seen entered the room. His height easily rivaled that of some of the larger demons she had come across and it didn't help his image that one eye was an impossible shade of blue.

It seemed as though the man was just as surprised to see her, a reaction that didn't last long as he took in who she was with. "Theodore!" The stranger exclaimed with a welcoming smile coming across his lips. "What are you doing here, isn't this your week off?" That question wasn't the only one he wanted to ask as was made clear by his sidelong glance at the young redhead who accompanied one of his close friends. Theo noticed the direction the large man's gaze had taken and returned the smile, nudging Willow in the shoulder with his own. "I'm taking in the show tonight with my niece, Willow Rosenberg. Willow, this is one of my good friends, Glen Jacobs. He's better known by his ring name, Kane."


	10. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER NINE**

Following her introduction to the nearly seven foot tall man, all Willow could do was listen as the two men conversed about subjects that didn't interest her in the slightest. She knew that her uncle could be very talkative and under the assumption that their conversation would last awhile, excused herself from the room and exited into the hallway. Unfortunately she hadn't thought about what she would do once she escaped and so the redhead was left standing alone in the middle of a busy hallway, looking lost. It didn't seem wise to travel very far from the locker room, getting lost was the last thing she wanted to do. All in all, her options seemed to be very limited and it didn't help one bit that she could have sworn to have seen the brightly colored hair again.

In with the rest of the WWE for less than an hour and already she seemed to be losing her mind, that was just perfect. She could only imagine how many times she would hear "I told you so" from her friends when she relayed this information to them. Her expression fell into one of sadness when it hit her that two out of the three people from Sunnydale whom she cared about weren't on speaking terms with her. The image she was portraying to her future co-workers was the last thing on her mind as she reached up and brushed the single tear from the corner of her eye. When her movement reminded her of the purse she was currently carrying, she eyeballed it and pulled open the clasp. Inside were a few personal items and her uncle's pack of cigarettes which she had agreed to carrying for him.

He had decided to keep the lighter in his own pocket but Willow remembered with a start that she had one of Spike's in her purse. Her lips curled slightly upward in fond recollection of how she had come to having it. Spike had been needling Buffy as he usually did and the redhead had threatened to take it if he didn't lighten up. Of course the stubborn vampire hadn't listened to her, not believing that the meek Slayerette would make good on the threat. She laughed quietly to herself as she remembered the expression on his face when it had gone missing and noticed one of the other people in the hallway was giving her a strange look. Reddening slightly, she realized that it must look like she was insane, standing alone in a hallway laughing to herself.

Taking another look at the door that separated her from Glen and Theo, she figured they would be in there for awhile and decided to head back in the direction they had come from when they entered the building. She passed the two guards standing in front of the door and went outside, spontaneously deciding to do something she never imagined she would be doing. Reaching inside her purse, she removed the cigarettes and pulled one from the packaging. One hand awkwardly holding the white stick, she retrieved the stolen lighter and brought the cancerous object to her lips. Taking a deep breath, she lit the cigarette and took a small drag. Immediately she began coughing up a storm and it felt as though she was going to lose a long right then and there.

Her attention was suddenly drawn away from her hacking fit when she heard the sound of amused laughter coming from her left side. Turning her eyes to the source, she was surprised to see a tall man with tattooed arms holding his own cigarette which was already halfway gone. She could feel the redness coming to her cheeks and forced herself to regain her composure before frowning at the stranger. There was a smirk on his face when she looked at him and Willow couldn't help but be reminded of the peroxide blonde she had been thinking about no more than five minutes earlier. Deciding that she could be friendly despite his apparent mockery, she offered a hand and introduced herself. "Willow Rosenberg, and as you can tell I'm really not a smoker."

It seemed as though he was going to refuse her gesture but thought the better of it and took her hand in his own larger one, giving it a firm shake before letting go. "You _must_ know who I am." She was taken aback by his confident statement and shook her head. "Sorry, can't say that I do." It appeared that he didn't believe her and the look on his face made it clear that he was humoring her with his response. "Well then, let me introduce myself. Randy Orton at your service." Willow felt someone tap on her shoulder before she could form a response and spun around, quickly slamming her tennis shoe-clad foot down on the imposing figure's own. "What the hell?!" She could hear Randy's exclamation at her action from behind her but paid no attention.

Instead of stopping to think about what she was doing, Willow followed her Sunnydale instincts and brought her knee firmly up into the new man's groin. While she did that she was reaching into her pocket and grabbing the crucifix that was always kept near. Shoving it in front of her, Willow was shocked when the man with the long blonde hair whom she had just struck showed no adverse reaction to the holy symbol and horrifying realization dawned slowly on her. When she had noticed the man in her peripheral vision, there was a nasty smirk on his face and she had translated it into that of a vampire's and reacted before thinking. It was now clear that she had misinterpreted the situation and it mortified her.

Without a further word, she practically yelled "Sorry!" in the man's face before moving around him and walking speedily back towards the entrance of the building. The pair of guards remembered her from earlier and allowed the distraught girl to rush past them without incident. Unbeknownst to her, the blonde man was still crouched on the ground outside, in pain from the redheaded woman's sudden and unexpected attack. Randy Orton had moved rapidly to his side and was helping his colleage back to his feet. The two men stared at each other for a moment before turning both of their gazes to the door she had disappeared through. "What in the flying fuck was that?!" "I really don't know, Adam."


	11. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER TEN**

In her rush to escape the scene of her embarrassment, Willow wasn't paying attention to where she was going and didn't stop moving until she ran straight into a wall. The impact of her collision sent the petite young woman to the ground in a heap and she was left on the floor. She was so distracted that she failed to notice that the "wall" was in fact another person and they were staring down at her with a mixed expression of confusion and surprise. When they realized she wasn't getting up, their face changed into one of concern and they crouched on the floor beside the distraught girl. "Hey, are you alright?" Willow's head snapped up when she noticed someone was speaking to her and her own bright green eyes automatically focused on theirs.

With a start, Willow realized that she was staring at an admittedly attractive man with facial hair shaved into stripes and...brightly colored hair?! In her shock she was unable to respond and simply gave him a dazed look. Jeff Hardy was almost immediately entranced by the redhead in front of him. When she looked up he could tell right away that she was very pretty and her face was bright red with what he assumed was embarrassment for running into him. She still wasn't speaking with him so he took the initiative to try and get her to respond. "You don't have to be that embarrassed to find me attractive." His words were paired with a warm smile to show that he wasn't being serious, however in her addled state Willow failed to notice that he was joking.

Quickly jumping to her feet, she stared down at him with fire in her eyes. "What is it with you people and your egos?" He slowly rose to his own feet and looked at her with surprise which she took to be annoyance, and that only incensed her further. "You don't have to look at me like that just because I don't think you're hot, Mister! I made a huge mistake signing that contract. Buffy and Xander were right, I never should have left Sunnydale! Goddess, what am I going to do? Now I'm stuck here for six months and knowing how karma has it in for me, I'm going to get stuck with one of you...you...stupid egomaniacs! What did I do so wrong that I'm being treated like this? I helped save the world!" Even in her anger she could tell that she had gone too far with that statement and back peddled quickly.

"Saving the world by...uh, recycling! Yeah, I recycle! Go environment!" She was so far gone into her rant that she didn't notice Jeff staring at her with huge eyes and instead of focusing her gaze back on him, she studied her surroundings and realized that she had gotten lost despite her best attempts to stay in familiar territory. "Great! And now I don't know where I am. How the...How am I going to find that guy...Glen's dressing room? My uncle has to be worried about me. Unless they're still talking. Crap, he's not even going to be looking for me! This is just too much." She paused again and turned her eyes to the ceiling in desperation. "Goddess, if you show me back to that room I promise I'll never smoke again."

Her eyes lit up in recognition and a smile slowly crossed her face. "_That's _why all this is happening! It was that fucking cigarette!" Suddenly she froze and her own eyes grew to the same size as the brightly haired man's who was still staring at her in complete bewilderment. The realization that she had just used one of the worst swear words was enough to stop her completely in her tracks and she finally turned to look at the man who had started her rant in the first place. "I don't usually swear like that. Oh! And I'm not even a smoker, I just tried it because I was so stressed, y'know?" Once again she stopped, unsure about why she felt the need to explain herself to this guy. It was his fault she even swore in the first place, if he hadn't been such a jerk she never would have gone into that babble.

That thought caused her to level another glare at him but this time it was half-hearted. Willow sighed as she contemplated her irrational thought pattern. Of course it wasn't his fault, she had sworn all on her own. Blaming him for it would have been too easy. The look she was sending him disappeared and was replaced by an expression of defeat. All of a sudden her green eyes began to well up with tears and it was all she could do to prevent herself from beginning to sob. "What am I doing here? I just want to go back home. And now I yelled at you and it's not your fault even if you were being a jerk. You must hate me!" Jeff began opening his mouth to tell this very peculiar girl that he didn't hate her when the familiar voice of Glen Jacobs echoed down the hallway.

"Willow? Willow Rosenberg?" The younger of the two Hardy brothers looked down the hall as 'Kane' approached the pair. He had changed into his costume during the conversation with Theo and was now practically unrecognizable to the girl who had only met him for the first time a half hour earlier. Willow stared at him in terror and only began to relax when the familiar form of her uncle appeared from behind the scary giant. "Hon, what happened to you?" He had noticed the tears in her eyes and only now realized that she was standing with Jeff Hardy. Not knowing the facts of the situation, he assumed that the rainbow-haired man had done something to make his niece cry. "What did you do to her, Hardy?!"

Yet again the man was opening his mouth to respond when he was cut off, this time by the girl he now knew was named Willow. "He didn't do anything, it was me. I was just yelling at him for no reason because...well, there wasn't a reason so I don't know. Then I was lost and didn't know where to find that dressing room and this whole night has been really terrible. Can we go? I know you wanted to stay for the show but I just want to leave." Despite the weight of the situation, Theo couldn't stop himself from busting into a loud laugh which resulted in his niece giving him a wounded look. Before he could verbalize that he didn't mean any insult, she turned and once again was speeding down the hallway, away from a situation she wanted no part of.

*************************************************************

For the second time in one day, Willow found herself staring down a long hallway with absolutely no clue where she was. After running away from her uncle because of his hurtful actions she had made an adamant decision not to turn around and re-locate him, at least not right away. For the moment she preferred making the immature choice of avoiding him despite knowing it was the wrong thing to do. Willow was just about to consider going to find him when a pretty, slim woman in her twenties fell into her line of sight and made her way towards the redhead. "Darling, I don't think you're supposed to be back here. If security sees you they'll...." Not in the mood for being polite, Willow cut her off before she could finish.

"First of all, don't call me darling. Second, I don't think security would mind seeing me back here. I have a pass..." She revealed the laminated card to the strange woman before continuing. "My uncle, jerk though he may be, works in the sound department. _And _I might not be starting yet but I did sign a contract to become one of those females who accompany the egomaniacs to the ring. Valets, I think?" Even in her frustration she sighed and offered this stranger a clearly forced smile. "I'm not myself right now, usually I promise I'm a lot nicer. I'm a nerd, y'know? I've just had probably the worst night of my life and I really am sorry for being such a bitca." Willow made it through the entire tirade without taking a breath and offered her hand to the woman who was now looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Willow Rosenberg, babbler extraordinaire." Finally the blonde woman was allowed to get another word in, and instead of appearing angry for the new girl having snapped at her, she offered a warm smile and shook the hand offered her. "Eleanor Radley, stylist to those 'egomaniacs' you just mentioned. Rosenberg, you said?" Instead of verbalizing her response, Willow simply nodded and was surprised to be rewarded with a sparkling grin. "I also work with some of the divas and wouldn't you know it, I just got word that I'll be arranging the new girl's wardrobe. I won't even insult you by asking what you think this girl's name is. Welcome to my list of projects, D." At the use of a single initial, the redhead's expression became confused and even slightly nostalgic as Faith came to mind.

"Nice to meet you, Eleanor. But...D? Where did that come from?" The blonde looked at her as though she was mentally handicapped. "Call me Ellie, I can't stand my first name. In fact, I don't like using anybodies _real_ first name so I use pet names. And since you don't respond well to being called Darling, I shortened it to D. You should feel honored that I was willing to compromise." Ellie gave Willow a playful wink and, despite being just slightly irritated at the nickname, Willow couldn't help but offer a genuine smile in return. This woman reminded her of Buffy as well as Faith and although it made her feel just a bit homesick, it also helped her feel more at ease and for the first time that evening, Willow felt that maybe everything would end up alright.


	12. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

Willow Rosenberg's clear green eyes were slightly glazed in fear as she stared at the sight directly before her. She had come across several terrifying entities in her life, years of living on a Hellmouth would do that to a girl, but nothing she had faced managed to cause a reaction of such pure horror. The sight before her had the small redhead frozen in place and despite her brain sending commands to her feet trying to get them to move, she could only stand still as she attempted to come to terms with the situation. Finally, after closing her eyes and taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm her nerves, her eyes shot open and a look of pure determination took the place of the fear that had lived there only a moment earlier.

(I'm going to be fine. I have to be. There's no way I can let this get to me or I'll never survive past the next six months. C'mon, Rosenberg, this is it. Your chance to prove everybody wrong. But who ever said I can't do this? Nobody ever thought I would try it so why would they believe I can't handle it? Even in my thoughts I can't help but keep on babbling. I look like a crazy person right now! Oh well, I can use that. If people think I'm unstable they might stay away from me. But what about that wardrobe girl, Ellie? I already spent over an hour with her, plus I made myself look insane in front of that guy with hair like Oz's. He never let his get that long though. And what about that cocky guy? Orton? Or the one I kicked? I can still do this. Shut up, Rosenberg!)

The thoughts running rampant through her brain were forced to cease and she all but shoved them to the back of her mind. This was her first official night of work as a Diva, or more specifically, a valet. She would not be wrestling for hopefully a long time to come, only showing one of the wrestlers out to the ring. The ring which would be surrounded by thousands of eyes who would be judging her every move. No! They would be staring at the man she was going out there with, Willow was only meant to be a minimal distraction, something of beauty to be admired briefly. Of course she didn't consider herself a thing of beauty but she had been assured she would fit the bill just fine, an assurance she couldn't quite believe but the contract was already hers and it didn't matter.

Reminding herself quickly that she would be adopting a cool persona, Willow strode confidently towards the side entrance to the venue where they would be performing tonight and paused to raise a single eyebrow at the pair of men standing guard there. They had just sent a scantily clad girl packing and there was no way they would allow this redhead who was wearing three times as much clothing, in. That was before she took it upon herself to do her best replication of a cold, hard glare. It must have done the trick because the one standing to the right pulled the door open and allowed her entrance without being shown the pass that would have allowed her inside with no questions asked.

She had decided before arriving that if she could get past the guards without an official pass, she would be able to fool almost anyone into thinking she was a stronger woman than she appeared to be. If they had refused to allow her inside, her plan had been to retreat and pray to her Goddess that the head of the company wouldn't try and track her down for refusing to follow the guidelines of her contract. Unfortunately her only excuse for escape was taken away when they opened the door for her and in that moment she realized it had truly come down to this. The life that was now hers for the next half-year was about to begin and there was nothing she could do to slow the progress, short of becoming seriously injured.

The backstage area still confused her greatly but it was to her fortune that they arranged it the same way it had been when she and her uncle visited for that evening a few nights previous. Theo had been unable to attend with her for the first night, or so he had told her. In reality he knew that his niece would have to become accustomed to doing this on her own and he didn't want to be a crutch to her progess. Willow had thought his excuse about going to the dentist was extremely flimsy, considering that most of those buildings were closed by six o'clock, but she hadn't been willing to argue with him. Their relationship was slightly tense after she had fled from him over a simple misunderstanding and neither wanted to rock the boat.

Somehow she managed to find her way to the area that was set up for the wardrobe department and Willow was quickly greeted with the sight of several silver racks of clothing. She searched the small room quickly and her emerald eyes eventually came to rest on the piece of paper taped to one of the racks, with her name written in clear handwriting. Walking over to it, she unhooked the hanger and carefully unzipped the bag. Her eyes widened in shock at the outfit before her and unconsciously her head began to shake in dismay. Underneath the protective sheeting was an absolutely tiny pair of black leather pants that couldn't possibly be meant for her and the only piece of clothing that could be translated to a top was the simple black bra.

When the sensation of someone resting their hand on her shoulder registered, she quickly spun and suppressed her urge to strike out at the unwelcome intrusion. Fortunately for her, the fist she had balled up on instinct continued to rest at her side and she was able to relax it before extending her hand in greeting to the unfamiliar new woman. "Willow, I presume? My name is Stephanie McMahon." The brunette took her offered hand and gave it a strong shake, the movement giving the redhead enough time to recover from the surprising introduction. "My father sent me down here to personally inform you who you'll be accompanying to the ring." She smiled at the curious look that garnered and motioned with her head towards the hanger Willow was still holding.

"We didn't want to ruin the surprise by letting you see the shirt beforehand." A huge breath she hadn't realized she was holding expelled from Willow's lungs in relief that she wouldn't be walking to ringside in her underwear. The older woman took in the sigh with a brief smile which she quickly erased, it wouldn't be very productive to show her genuine soft side to the new girl. It was so much easier when everyone backstage assumed she was a raging bitch like her character. "We know that your uncle is good friends with Glen Jacobs and we decided to keep you close to your family." For a moment it seemed as though everything would be fine before the bombshell was dropped. "That's why we placed you with Glen's closest backstage friend, Mark Calaway. The Undertaker."


	13. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

Directly following the shocking announcement of who she would be working closely with, Willow was shuffled to the other side of the wardrobe room by Ellie who had appeared shortly after Stephanie McMahon left to take care of other backstage necessities. She was shown the shirt she would be wearing and could practically feel her heart drop from her chest. She was expected to wear a black and red corset top which, when paired with the skintight black leather pants, would be an almost exact replica of the outfit she had worn a couple of years back. The outfit belonging to her vampire counterpart from an alternate universe. Willow was unable to keep herself from becoming slightly leery over that bit of information but at the same time was aware that it was only a coincidence.

One thing she couldn't figure out was why the top was supposedly a dead giveaway as to the man she was working with. Sure, it appeared to be an outfit someone "evil" would wear, and boy she couldn't help herself from laughing at that particular irony, but there was nothing about it that screamed Undertaker to her. It was with an unconscious shrug of her shoulders that she dropped her train of thought and instead concentrated on the first time she had seen the Phenom. Really, it had only been a day earlier and that was enough to make her suspicious of her uncle's reasoning for watching that one particular wrestling match. Theo had made it seem as though he wanted to spend time with her before her big first day, but after the Undertaker had tombstoned his opponent for the victory, the DVD had been switched off.

Of course she was now kicking herself for missing all of the signs he had presented while they watched, including a secretive smirk when she had shown a bit of apprehension over his entrance routine. It wasn't a subject she could broach with her uncle, but watching the huge man with the deathly attitude make his way to the ring had reminded her of vampires in her past. Even knowing that most of the actions were indeed scripted, she hadn't been able to shake the chill that had befallen her. Now she would be forced to work with the man that inspired those feelings and Willow couldn't help but be slightly bitter about that. She had been trying to avoid thoughts of the Hellmouth she left behind and working with him wouldn't do much to help her accomplish that.

Changing into the uncomfortable outfit wouldn't take long and she was briefly informed that she would not be needed at hair and makeup for about an hour which left her with some time to fill. She couldn't very well remain in the wardrobe area and continue to stand in the way of others who needed to get ready and that realization sent her once again to wander the hallways. Willow was convinced that she would never be able to decipher the complicated way in which they were arranged and she was beginning to feel somewhat sorry for herself when a vaguely familiar blonde-haired man caught sight of her. A slight blush graced her features when she saw that it was the man whom she had sent to the ground in pain but she masked her embarrassment as quickly as she could.

By the time he came to a halt in front of her, Willow had managed to force a mask of cool indifference onto her face and was staring at him with what she hoped was confidence. When he stood in front of her without saying a word, she raised an eyebrow and began to turn away from him. Adam Copeland was greatly intrigued by redhead standing in front of him and before she turned to leave, he reached out and gently rested a hand on her shoulder to get her attention. She spun around with the same intensity that she had when she kicked him and although he was accustomed to standing up to men far larger than her, he had to resist the urge to flinch. He also had to stop himself from taking a large step backwards when her calm green eyes turned fiery right before him.

"Who the hell said you could put a hand on me? Do it again and I'll make you regret it. Try me." Adam raised both of his hands in what he hoped was a placating manner and decided that taking a step back would definitely be the best course of action. "I just figured you have something to say to me. Perhaps an apology for attacking me the other day?" He knew almost right away that he had made a bad choice of words when she simply stared at him coldly. "I can't say that I owe you anything." Her quiet tone of voice was not to be mistaken for passiveness. "In fact, you should have something to say for sneaking up on me. _And_ for putting your hand on me just now. My opinion? You owe me more of an apology than anything. Shut up."

She cut the strange man off when he attempted to reply to her, not prepared to listen to anything he had to say. "Now, I'm going to turn and walk away from you. If you decide on foolishly putting another unwanted hand on me, you better be prepared to deal with the consequence. I promise you that the pain the other day has nothing on what else I can do." Willow had absolutely no clue where that serious piece of attitude had come from but knew she liked it. Along with the heated words she had just delivered, a feeling of immense satisfaction welled up within her and in that moment it became clear that she would be absolutely fine in this business. The "real" Willow Rosenberg would just have to remain hidden and this new persona could take control.

The satisfaction over her new discovery was so great that she failed to realize the blonde man was becoming angry with the way she had treated him. Here was this new woman and she was delivering a tongue-lashing to _him?_ There was something wrong with that picture and he planned to make it clear to her as well. Instead of listening to her warning, as soon as she again began to turn and walk away from him, he reached out and spun her back around forcefully. The resulting slap he received left an echoing sound on the walls around them and his cheek immediately began to sting along with his ego. He unleashed such a glare at her that Willow suddenly noticed how empty the area had become. The two of them appeared to be alone in the hallway.

"Listen here, _Red._I've been in this business for years and nobody, especially not the new girl, talks to me the way you just did. If you expect to be kept around for much longer, you better learn how to respect the superior talent." At first his angry words began to concern her slightly, his larger frame could do her much smaller one plenty of damage before anyone could respond to her yelling. She wasn't aware that Adam Copeland never had, and never would hit a woman and was in fact banking on the idea of intimidating her. Unfortunately his choice of words was once again lacking and his unknowing use of the nickname reserved only for an annoying bleach blonde vampire was what set her off.

Green eyes blazing, it was all Willow could do to hold herself back from slapping the arrogant stranger in his face again. Her lips curled up into a sneer and she gave him a predatory look worthy of her otherworldly vampire counterpart. Not paying attention to what she was doing, the redhead raised one hand and sharply jabbed a single finger into his chest. "No**. **You listen to me. If _you_ expect to have your balls kept around for much longer, you better learn that my name isn't Red." She didn't stop to wonder why she was having such a strong reaction to his using Spike's nickname for her and if she had, would have likely written it up to being homesick. "You don't even deserve to use my first name. **I don't like you.**"

Without realizing it, her body began trembling with rage and she was suddenly releasing years of pent up frustration over being bullied and made fun of. "If you ever, _ever, _try and get physical with me again...well, let's just say I will not be resorting to threats. You may think I'm just some dumb girl full of empty promises and you can believe that if you want to sleep better at night. I don't really care. All that does matter is that I will fuck you up and not think twice about it. If you think I could ever learn to respect your so-called superior talent you're dead wrong. Touch me like that again and there's a good possibility you will be _dead_ wrong. Now, I believe I was about to walk away from you. Don't stop me and we shouldn't have a continued problem."

She was done speaking with him and for a third and final time, turned to walk away. For a brief moment she paused as though expecting him to make some kind of move but when he finally proved to be more intelligent than that, she quickly started walking away. Tears were beginning to burn at the back of her eyes and she couldn't escape the scene fast enough. Unfortunately for Willow, she was completely unaware that there were cameras everywhere backstage and their main purpose was to catch any action that could potentially be used for an entertainment factor. Her run-in with the wrestler known as Edge had been filmed and was being viewed live by Vince McMahon. Furthermore, there was no way for her to know that "Edge" was now sporting an angry red welt in the shape of her fingertip.


	14. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

It had only been a few minutes since she walked away from her confrontation with that blonde asshole, but Willow had managed to calm herself down again. Surprisingly, it hadn't taken much for her to force her emotions into check and although she was feeling slightly guilty for going overboard with him, the newly self-assured young woman figured it couldn't hurt to establish a bit of an attitude. In all reality, she was well aware that it wasn't the way she would normally act and that was completely fine with her, she was coming to terms with the fact that Willow Rosenberg may not have been able to handle being backstage with plenty of headstrong men, but this new "character" of hers was more than prepared for it.

There was still a significant amount of time before she was really needed to get ready for her premiere and she had no ideas what to do with it. As it turned out, one of many assistants backstage was approaching her and she fixed the man with a collected yet curious glance as he neared. "Ms. Rosenberg?" Nodding with agreement that it was her, she replied with a friendly smile. "Willow, please." "Well _Willow_, Mr. McMahon would like to see you in his office for a moment. Her warm expression immediately vanished and she could feel her body tense up with apprehension. The man she had faced down must have gone to the head honcho and gotten her in trouble. It just figured that she would do something to mess up on her very first night.

Wordlessly she began to follow the assistant as he lead the way to Mr. McMahon's office but her thoughts were much less quiet. Internally she was trying to come up with a way to explain her behavior and was distressed to find there was nothing she could come up with to make sense of it. That brief realization really made her wonder what had forced her to blow up at the blonde man and she was still trying to figure that out when she bumped into the assistant. He had paused in front of a closed door and she had been too deep in thought to realize. Willow's face reddened slightly as he turned to give her a mildly annoyed look and she couldn't help but shrug. Rolling his eyes, the man turned and knocked on the door.

A moment later, a confident male voice filtered through the door. "You can come on in." The male assistant turned the handle and, giving her one final glare, left her alone to enter the medium-sized office. Pulling a deep breath through her lungs to prepare herself, the redhead stepped through the doorway and attempted to put on a blank expression. "You wanted to see me?" "Yes, Ms. Rosenberg. Please have a seat." She gently closed the door behind her and approached the comfortable-looking chair in front of her, sitting down gingerly and turning to face the head of the WWE. "What's this about?" Careful not to change her expression, she steeled herself for the conversation which was about to follow.

She was greatly surprised when he responded in a friendly tone. "I wanted to have a brief chat with you before the appearance tonight. You have nothing to worry about, Ms. Rosenberg." For the second time in a few minutes she felt uncomfortable with the official sounding name and had to force herself not to squirm in her seat. It almost felt as though she was sitting in the principal's office but somehow she doubted this man could be as much of a Nazi as Mr. Snyder had been. "You can call me Willow." She replied in a soft voice, hoping against hope that she wasn't overstepping some unwritten boundary of conduct. Fortunately she was awarded a brief smile instead of an adverse reaction.

"Willow, then. I'm pleased that we're on the subject of names as that was the main purpose of my calling you in here. Tonight you're here simply as a valet like we previously discussed. However, we still need to determine a ring name for you." He withdrew a piece of paper from the drawer to the side of him and slid it across the desk towards the other occupant in the room. "Our creative department has come up with a few suggestions for you to go over." The next few minutes were spent in mutual silence as the redhead quickly skimmed the words in front of her. Willow's mind was working in overdrive as she went over her options, and finally she pointed to one particular name that had caught her attention.

Mr. McMahon pulled the paper back to him and looked at the name she had chosen before making eye contact with the woman across from him and giving a nod. "This is certainly an appropriate choice." He extended his hand over the desk and Willow shook it, all the while sending him a perplexed glance and raising an eyebrow. The head of the company's lips twitched up into a small smile and he explained himself. "I wanted to be the first to shake your hand, Briar." He gave her an uncharacteristic wink and made a gesture towards the door as if to dismiss her. "Thanks for your time. Oh, and by the way? You're not in any trouble but I would appreciate if you made an effort to get along with my superstars backstage."

Surprised by his sudden change of subject and unsure of how to respond, she gave him a weak smile as she rose slowly to her feet. "Yeah, uh. I will. Thank _you_ for your time, Mr. McMahon. I really do appreciate your giving me this job out of nowhere and I'll do my best not to let you down." His friendly smile swiftly disappeared and was replaced with a hard glint in his eyes. "You be sure to do that, Willow. Good luck on your premiere tonight." He dropped her gaze and grabbed a pen from his desk before ruffling through a thick folder. She got the message loud and clear, walking over to the door and opening it, exiting the same way she had come in and allowing the door to shut gently behind her.


	15. Chapter 14 & Chapter 15

A/N: Sorry about the notifications that those with alerts received. I was having issues and had to delete and re-add the last two chapters but here are two new ones for your reading pleasure. Hopefully every one of you has a safe and joyful holiday!

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

Once she had finally been excused from the office of Mr. McMahon, the extra time she had been given before having to prepare had expired. She had not been afforded enough time to calm her nerves after the encounter and as a result she was feeling slighty jumpy although she did her best to mask the nervousness she was feeling. In a bit of oversight, Willow had not figured out where she was expected to arrive to have her makeup applied and as a result was forced to rush in her search for the section roped off for the "makeover area." She was fortunate enough to have been set with a character that didn't require an excessive amount of makeup and after only five minutes her look was complete. The lady working on her had given her a thin layer of black eyeliner, a dusty shade of grey for eyeshadow, and a subtle shade of dark red for her lips.

With her makeup complete, she had been shuffled off to another chair so they could work with her hair. It had been decided previously that her medium-lengthed red hair would have to be dyed a darker shade to better match her new affiliation with the Undertaker. Although this plan was deemed acceptable by the hairstylist, the portly woman had suggested that they add in extensions to make her hair even longer. Without stopping to put much thought into it, Willow had agreed under the impression that the woman knew what she was talking about and wouldn't do anything to make her look ridiculous. She had no clue how her hair would turn out or if she would even like the way she looked, but all the effort was being made to help morph her into the character she would be playing.

Finally, after what seemed like like a torturously extended period of time, her final look was completed and she was allowed to head back towards the wardrobe area to change into her outfit. The same outfit she had found earlier was still hanging in the same area, a fact which had Willow sighing and shaking her head. She had almost been able to convince herself that what she was wearing bore no resemblence to the one her vampire self owned but upon seeing it again, realized that if Buffy or Xander saw her now they would have assumed she was turned into a vampire. She was so preoccupied with thinking about her friends back home that she failed to notice Ellie approaching her from the other side of the room.

"Yo, D! What you staring at?" The exuberant blonde came around from behind Willow and paused at her side, staring at the same outfit the redhead was eyeballing. Her blue eyes lit up and her glossy lips curved up into an excited grin as she nudged her newfound friend. "Isn't that great? I saw it on the racks and knew it would be perfect for your character. You're gonna sex it up tonight!" The wardrobe stylist's bright smile began to fade when she saw how upset her client appeared to be and instead of commenting on it, quickly grabbed onto a piece of her freshly darkened and lengthened hair. "This new hair alone will be enough to do the trick, but the leather will throw you into overdrive."

Her words seemed to break through to Willow who turned and met Ellie's eyes with her own. A weary smile had broken across her face and the slightly older woman offered a more genuine smile in return. Finally the dark mood which had befallen her disappeared and she began to pull the clothing from the hangers. "Yeah, I'll be smoking. Only not cigarettes because that ended really bad last time and not literally because that would probably hurt. I'm stopping now." She snapped her mouth closed and internally let loose a deep breath. At the rate she was going, she would lose the only person who could almost be considered a friend. Unknown to Willow, her blonde companion thought her personality was a breath of fresh air.

The two exchanged small talk for a few minutes before it came time for Willow to actually change into the clothing that brought her so much dread. It didn't take as long as she had anticipated to shimmy into the completely skin tight leather pants, though it was just as much of a struggle. The boots which came next were easily the most simple item and her corset only required minimal assistance from Ellie. Finally she was dressed in the outfit and she stepped out of the enclosed area where she had changed and was met with a full length mirror. She gasped in shock at how drastically her appearance had changed. Instead of an innocent looking redhead, there was a sexily clad stranger staring back at her.

For a minute time seemed frozen as she stared intensely at her reflection until snapping out of it with the realization that she was meant to have met the Undertaker five minutes earlier. Giving the blonde stylist a quick wave goodbye, Willow dashed from the wardrobe area towards where she had been told she could meet up with Mark Calaway. The man was already standing there, dressed in his own wardrobe and looking incredibly frightening even to the woman who used to fight vampires on a nightly basis. He seemed annoyed that his new associate was already late and she had to remind herself to put forth a cool exterior as she approached him. The next thing she knew, Willow was standing in front of the tattooed man.

"You're late." He rumbled gruffly, barely even bothering to look at her. Instead of biting her lip and giving a timid response as she would usually do, the formerly red haired young woman tilted her head and met his eyes. "Yes." Her response ended there and an awkward stretch of silence ensued, the much taller man staring down at her as though he expected her to finish the statement. She picked up on this and rolled her eyes before elaborating. "If you're waiting for me to apologize or make excuses, we'll be here for awhile. I'm late, it will _not_ happen again and for that you have my word. Can we move on?" Although he didn't express it, Mark quietly found her slight attitude amusing and appropriate. "Sure, kid."

Her eyes seemed to darken slightly after his statement but the dark-haired man didn't notice. "We're on in about twenty minutes so you don't have much time to prepare but here goes. The Undertaker isn't the kind of guy who would just have a woman escort him down to the ring so this is what we planned...." For the next fifteen minutes they went over the details and Willow could almost feel herself relaxing in his presence. Although he appeared to be frightening, the man behind the character was genuinely easygoing and there was no way she could have known that he didn't show that side to just anyone. In fact, it was rare that he spoke more than two words to the newbies backstage even if they were attached to his character.

For a reason he couldn't identify, the young woman before him sent off a vibe that made him want to protect her despite the fact that his instincts told him she could handle herself in a sticky situation. Mark was greatly shocked to realize that he had already begun to treat her as though she was a niece or even his daughter and that was something completely unprecedented. He didn't have much time to sort through the realization, however, as one of the stagehands came and informed them to stand prepared at the Gorilla position. Willow almost began to shake with fear and anticipation but was stopped by a single glance from Deadman. That one look infused her with confidence and all of a sudden she felt as though she could face the world.

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

_Meanwhile......._

William the Bloody, better known by his name Spike, was currently residing in his home back in the small but deadly town of Sunnydale, California. The bleached blonde vampire had stayed inside of his graveyard crypt for the entire day, mainly to avoid a dusty end thanks to the brightly shining sun, but also to stay away from the bitchy Slayer who couldn't seem to have enough of ridiculing him. Her verbal and physical abuse had picked up after the disappearance of her redheaded best friend Willow, the only one of the group who had ever treated him with an ounce of respect. That in itself was surprising, seeing as how he had caused her much pain in the past by kidnapping her and the dopey brunette her and Buffy hung out with.

His previous attacks on her hadn't ended there, the second time he went after her with the intent to drain her blood dry and leave her as a gift for the Slayer. Of course that hadn't ended well for him as it was one of the first experiences he had dealing with the searing pain of the blasted electronic chip in his brain. In any case, she had enough heart to forgive him for his past indiscretions and was nicer to him than the other three from the group she was constantly with. Her sudden disappearance had certainly been a surprise and a pain in the ass for him because the entire group's mood had changed and become even more irritable than before. It was clear to Spike that they knew where their friend was because they weren't tearing the country up in search for her, but never was it mentioned to him what had happened.

It wasn't that he genuinely cared what happened to her, he was still the Big Bad after all, but even he could admit to himself that her presence was somewhat missed. With a disgusted sneer, Spike decided that he had spent more than enough time thinking about the witch and was quickly on his way out the door into the night time. His duster was by the door and he grabbed it as he stalked past and whipped it around his body, smoothly getting it over his arms without missing a beat. The destination he had in mind was the disgusting bar run by Willy the Snitch and on his way there he staked two freshly risen vampires who got in his way. Killing his own kind put a mark on his back but they were one of his few ways to wreak violence.

Ten minutes later he was storming through the door at Willy's and the first words to pass his lips were an order for a pint of blood. Luckily enough he could still obtain human blood, it was just a hassle he could have lived without. Fresh blood always tasted better and he was sitting down for a night of alcohol and misery when his sharp blue eyes focused on the tiny television mounted to the wall behind the bar. Currently playing was a boring game of American football and he quickly grabbed the bartender's attention with a sharp glare. "Willy, how's about you change that to something a little more...violent?" The greasy man knew exactly what the vampire was referring to and switched the channel without a further word.

The peroxide blonde was quick to threaten and although the weasely man was well aware of Spike's condition he also knew that Spike always found a way to get things done. Besides, the bar was empty enough that none of the patrons would complain about the television being switched to a broadcast of professional wrestling. Willy found it amusing, although he would never have the balls to admit it, that Spike was so interested in the "sport." He would come into the bar a couple of times during the week and demand that the television be airing his shows. With a a shrug of his shoulders, the bartender went back to his job and left the vampire to enjoy the match which was currently showing.

Spike's attention was completely focused on the screen, one of the few wrestlers he really enjoyed watching was currently pounding on his opponent with a booted foot. The Undertaker's gimmick was predictably right up his alley so long as he wasn't in his American Badass stage. That had thrown the vampire for a displeased loop before they righted the awful change in character. Now he was firmly back in the Dead Man's corner as long as his opponent wasn't Kane, who was possibly even higher on his list of favored wrestlers. Spike had never stopped to think how strange his addiction to the fake sport was and nobody else had mentioned it to him, probably because he was careful not to mention it.

If those damned Scoobies ever found out about it, they would never stop harassing him. They would never listen to his explanation of how watching violence, no matter how scripted, was amusing to him. His train of thought was brought to a sudden halt with the sudden dimming of the lights, typically attributed to the Undertaker's own entrance. The man himself was standing above his opponent when it happened and his intense stare was directed on the pathway from backstage. Walking slowly down to the ring with an exaggerated sway to her hips was a Diva he had never before seen and it was clear that she was quite a looker. Spike's eyes trailed slowly from her leather clad legs up to her face and his unbeating heart nearly stopped again.

She looked a lot different than the last time he had seen her a few weeks ago but the dark haired young woman walking to the ring was, without a doubt, the missing Willow Rosenberg. The sound from the television was completely off and because of that it was impossible to make out the words, but the vampire could clearly see what the situation was. Chris Jericho, the man who was currently trying to fight off the Undertaker, had taken the opportunity Willow's appearance had given him to roll out of the ring. He was beginning to walk past her when the girl's fist darted out at a speed that was almost impossible to see and slammed into his face. The man went down like a ton of bricks and the Undertaker's eyes never left Willow's as he stepped through the ropes to jump to the ground.

He grabbed his opponent by the hair and rolled him back into the ring, quickly dispatching of him with one final chokeslam. Spike's full attention was on the television screen as the Undertaker exchanged words with Willow Rosenberg and he was able to catch part of what they were saying by reading their lips. The girl from Sunnydale was telling the Phenom that she would be watching his every move and he didn't appear happy about that. Finally the gravity of what he had just witnessed hit him and William the Bloody reached out to tightly grab Willy's arm. He ignored the flash of pain and demanded a phone, quickly dialing the number of the local Watcher. "Giles, Spike. Guess who just saw the witch on the telly?"


	16. Chapter 16

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

Words could not describe the feeling that was currently coursing through Willow Rosenberg's body and she was a girl with one hell of a vocabulary. Once her introduction speech was complete, she shot the man in the ring one final pointed look and turned on her heel to retreat once again to the safety being backstage brought her. It took all of her self-control not to run down the ramp and away from the thousands eyes she just knew were locked onto her. Time seemed to move in slow motion as she gave her best effort to replicate the way her vampire self had moved, calmly and with the confidence that came with knowing you were better than everyone else who surrounded you. Finally she was separated from the prying stares.

Going out there tonight had been nothing like she had expected and although she had certainly tried, there was no way she could have prepared herself for how it truly felt. She had been nervous...hell, she had been scared almost senseless. Right now she should be shaking in her boots like a scared little girl but the only thing that was making her body shake right now was adrenaline. Something about going out there and being in front of all those people had unlocked a part of her that Willow never knew existed, a part that told her she could handle being judged by them. Those people knew nothing about her, all they recognized was the character that she had been told to play. Any opinions they formed about her were false.

Now that she was given a moment to collect her thoughts, the redhead was completely surprised at the realization that she had almost had...fun. The way that crowd had been cheering at the top of their lungs, the expressions of pure joy that were on so many of their faces. Those people were so completely invested in what had been happening, watching the action had brought them happiness and Willow had contributed to that. Of course she understood that they didn't know at all who even her character was, but eventually there ran the possibility of her helping make thousands of people happy. It almost felt as though she had just had an epiphany and Willow couldn't hide the huge grin that took over her face.

Her expression of happiness had arrived at the same time as Mark, who just arrived backstage from out in the arena. He was just in time to see the smile appear and one of his own lit up his face. Gently he bumped his own shoulder to Willow's so he could grab her attention and she looked at him with the bright smile still pinned on her face. Mark gave her a knowing look in return, which caused her to raise a questioning eyebrow. "You just got bit by the bug, huh?" For a moment she was surprised that he could read her thoughts and it showed on her face. He laughed and just shook his head in amusement. "It's a look that I've seen on many a newbie's face. And you were so nervous about going out there. You must be relieved."

The words gave her pause as she considered them and a minute later she shook her head. "Not relieved, exactly. Most of all I'm just glad that I didn't faint or embarrass myself somehow. Which I guess is kinda the definition of relieved. It doesn't feel like that though, I can't explain it." She smiled again and gave him a spur of the moment hug which he returned, though it was clear by his reaction that he hadn't been expecting it. If any of the lingering crew members found it odd that Mark seemed to already be close with the new girl, none of them made any indications. After releasing the much taller man and stepping back, Willow gave him a quick wave. "I have to go and call my friends back home but we'll talk later?"

After getting confirmation, she navigated her way through the halls until she reached the dressing room she was currently sharing with Glen. She had the space all to herself for awhile because he was getting prepared for his own upcoming match and it gave her the perfect opportunity to dig her cell phone from out of her purse. It had been a few days since she had spoken with the Sunnydale crowd, mostly because they were still displeased about her leaving, but she wanted to call and see if they had at least attempted to watch her premiere. The nerves she had been feeling earlier reappeared but this time it was because of the conversation she was about to have. Willow could only hope that Xander and Buffy had chosen to overlook their feelings to support her the only way they could.

Four rings later it seemed like nobody was going to answer and she was about to click the "end" button when a masculine voice picked up. "Hello?" She quickly recognized it to be Giles and a pleased smile turned up on her lips. "Hey Giles! It's Willow." The ensuing silence only served to make her more nervous and it seemed like hours before she could hear his response. "Oh, Willow. To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?" The smile she was wearing slowly turned down into more of a frown and her stomach dropped. "...well, I....I had my first appearance tonight and was just wondering if anyone watched it?" Once again there was an extended silence and she wondered briefly if something was happening on the other end of the line.

"I'm afraid none of us caught it, unless you count Spike." She was shocked into silence at this turn in the conversation. Spike had seen her? On wrestling? _What the heck is he watching wrestling for? I wonder if they told him where I was and that was why. That doesn't make any sense though, why would he watch it just for me? On the other hand though, there isn't a reason he would have been watching if he didn't know. Then again, this is Spike we're talking about...." _Her internal monologue was cut short by the aforementioned vampire's voice coming through her earpiece. "Red, that you?!" "Spike?" "Oy! It is you! What the bloody hell are you doing stalking the Undertaker?" She was preparing to answer him when Giles' voice returned. "Hmph. That damn vampire grabbed the phone from me."

Not entirely sure what was going on in Sunnydale, all Willow could do was stand and stare at the cell phone in her hand. Finally her senses returned to her and she released a loud sigh. "Oh, well you sound pretty busy so I guess I can talk to you later. Sorry to interrupt your evening, Giles." Without waiting to see if he would reply to her, she ended the call as her emerald eyes began filling with tears. Apparently none of her friends found her debut for the WWE important enough to spend a short amount of their evening watching it. _Huh, the only one who saw it was Spike and he doesn't even like me. But...he knew who the Undertaker was so I guess he watches anyway. There's something strange. A vampire who enjoys wrestling. Oh well, he never was normal. _

The ecstatic feeling she had earned from her appearance tonight had all but faded away through the course of that single conversation and Willow wasn't sure what to think about that. She had just wiped her eyes and settled herself down on one of the plush couches when her cell phone began ringing in her pocket and checking out the screen, saw that Giles was calling her back. Quickly preparing herself for more of a mood kill, she lifted the small gadget to her ear and answered it. "Willow speaking." "Red! You didn't get to answer my question." Unconsciously she rolled her eyes but couldn't help a small smile from appearing. "It's all part of the storyline, Spike. I'm going to be working with Mark."

"Mark? What are you blabbering about, witch?" "Mark Calaway...you know, the Undertaker? I'm working with him because he's friends with Glen and Mr. McMahon thought I would like working with some...." The impatient vampire cut her off before she could finish her sentence or, worse yet, go on one of her extended babbling sprees. "Blah blah, bloody blah. That's all useless! Why are you there? Did you finally tell the Slayer to fuck off? Good on you!" It was just like him to go around assuming things and Willow felt her temper start to rise. "**No! **Why did you even call me, Spike? To tell me that I'm going to fail? Thanks a lot, I already got that memo. Poor little Rosenberg going off and messing up something else. Goodbye."

She hung up without waiting for his response and ignored her phone when it began ringing again almost immediately. Willow was starting to get sick and tired with the negativity that always seemed to follow her coming into contact with her friends from Sunnydale. None of them wanted to support her on this mission to get away and that was fine. _Forget them! I don't need Buffy, or Xander, or Giles! I'm an adult and if they're bitter that I was able to escape that hell hole they can just go...go fall out of a tree. I signed that contract and there's no way out of it and I don't even want one! _ With that she decided to forget about them at least for awhile. It was time for her to accomplish something on her own.


	17. Chapter 17

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**

Nearly a month had passed since her debut to Raw and she could honestly say that she was having the time of her life. It wasn't as though there was much history to compete with, her years prior to leaving Sunnydale had been filled with enough pain and sorrow to last her a lifetime. She hadn't even bothered to contact her friends back home and normally it would be eating at her conscious but Willow just couldn't force herself to care. They didn't want to support the choice she made and in her eyes that was something that would take her awhile to forgive. After all, friends were supposed to care enough to continue their relationships through even the hardest times, even if they didn't necessarily agree with certain choices.

It was an additional surprise to her how well she took to the constant travelling schedule her new job required. She had always felt a secret desire to travel and see different parts of the world but never before had she felt confident enough to go out on her own. Not that she was really by herself, in fact she had a fairly busy social schedule with her new friends as few as they were. Willow had never been the type of girl who felt the need to have a ton of friends at any given time, she preferred to have a couple quality relationships and she now had those. Most of her time was spent among her uncle, Glen, Mark, and Ellie. Rarely was she found by herself because she made it a habit to stay in close contact with each of them.

Little did she know that she had become somewhat of a mystery backstage. The elusive former redhead would retrieve her clothing for the night from the wardrobe room and take it back to either Mark or Glen's dressing room. Once the show was airing she stayed in the room and only left when it was time for her to appear, quickly making her way back once her time was concluded. Gossip would have people believe that she was some kind of stuck up bitch, a rumor that wasn't helped by Adam Copeland's version of their meetings. He had mentioned that she was completely rude to him despite his best efforts to be kind to her and that she had viciously attacked him without provocation. The story was backed up by Randy Orton who agreed that she had struck Adam with a low blow for no good reason.

One person who was having issues believing the stories of the new diva's attitude was Jeff Hardy. Despite his having limited contact with Willow, most of which had been her yelling at him, the short time he had with her gave him the impression that she wasn't anything like what everyone else said. They had passed each other in the halls a couple of times and although she had given him a smile each time, it always seemed to be somewhat forced. He was determined to figure out what her story was but hadn't been given another chance to speak with her. Tonight it seemed as though fate was working in his favor and the rainbow-haired man caught the mysterious new girl in a rare visit to the cafeteria provided for the superstars.

Willow had been having a fairly uneventful day but was still somewhat sore from the previous evening. The night after her first appearance had left her unable to fall asleep because adrenaline had still filled her system. During the walk she had opted to take in an attempt to wind down, she had been attacked by a vampire and luckily enough was able to put an end it it rather quickly. The event had reminded her that although she had escaped the mouth of Hell, demons never took a vacation no matter where she was located. You could take the girl out of Sunnydale but nothing would ever remove the Sunnydale from the girl. She had decided that going out and patrolling every once and again couldn't hurt. Her theory was proved wrong the night before when a vampire had shocked her with a vicious kick before she staked it.

Her leg had a gigantic bruise on it that wasn't hidden by the short skirt that Ellie had provided her for the evening. After retrieving her outfit for Raw that night and changing into it, Willow had found herself to be rather hungry and made a trip to the cafeteria. She was sitting by herself, eating the turkey sandwhich she had purchased and glaring away anyone who came near when a male voice suddenly made itself known behind her. "Willow, right?" The former redhead turned and was met with the sight of the man she had literally run into so many weeks ago. She had to fight away a light blush which appeared when she remembered how she had yelled at him for no legitimate reason. "That's what they call me, yeah."

Jeff gestured to the open seat next to her and raised his eyebrows. "If I sit here, are you going to kick my ass?" His tone was slightly teasing which led her to believe that he didn't carry any kind of grudge, for which she was glad. A smirk appeared on her lips and she shrugged at him mischievously. "You could just sit there and find out. At the very least I can promise I don't bite." Her own comment brought on a short chuckle and confused him, though he didn't say anything about it. Instead he cautiously dragged the chair a short distance from her and seated himself. He assumed that she would continue the conversation and was surprised when she simply turned away and continued to eat her sandwich.

Without thinking, his eyes fell to her legs and he noticed the bruise that had formed on one of them. "You get into a fight?" The words brought her emerald eyes back to his face and she just looked at him. "Your leg," he pointed out. "That's one hell of a mark." She followed his gesture and looked back at him before rising from her own seat and grabbing her food with one hand. "If you think that's bad you should have seen the other guy." Her eyes shone with amusement and she began walking away from him but her steps were cut short when he stood and started following her. "Oh, so you're going to be my shadow now? Great." Willow wasn't really upset, instead she was just curious why he wasn't leaving her alone.

"This might be my only chance to talk with you. You're kind of a hard woman to find." He didn't know what had made him say those words but it was too late to take them back. Willow sighed and shook her head. "Apparently you just don't know where to look but don't start trying to figure that out now." The pair unconsciously began to walk again and Jeff's brow furrowed in confusion. He couldn't determine her reason for this apparent attempt to get rid of him and he wanted an answer before leaving her alone. "Did I do something to offend ya?" Once again she stopped and this time Willow turned to face him with another sigh. "No." He thought she would leave it at that before her voice continued softly.

She wasn't sure what brought on her brief confession but there wasn't enough time for her to consider the words before saying them. "You remind me of my ex-boyfriend." Her hand moved, seemingly of its own accord, to his long and brightly colored hair before she drew back as though she had just been burned. "He always colored his hair like that but it was usually all one color." For the first time since meeting this guy she offered him a genuine smile which he returned. "I've gotta say, that's kinda a relief. I thought I might have done something..." His voice trailed off and he couldn't find anything else to say to her. Finally he nodded as though he had just determined something and he offered his hand which she stared at in confusion before taking it. "Jeff Hardy."

He introduced himself and waited for her to reciprocate which she finally did after her eyes lit up in understanding. "Willow Rosenberg, and I really should get going. Mark and Glen are probably wondering where I've gotten off to. I don't leave their locker room very often." She wasn't aware that her remark was an obvious one and it was brought to her attention when she caught his knowing smirk. "Yeah, I'd noticed as much. Almost everyone backstage does, you know. They all figure you're some kind of bitch who thinks she's too good for the rest of us." He had no way of knowing she was fairly sensitive and that his comment stung. All of the progress they had made shattered and she fixed him with a hard glare.

"Congrats to all of you, you've figured me out. Like I told you a moment ago, don't bother trying to figure out where I'm going to be." After meeting his eyes for a brief, electrifying moment she continued on her path back to the room where she was staying. Willow refused to let him see how much his words had hurt and it certainly wouldn't do her hard-edged character any justice to show him the tears that had appeared in her eyes. When she reached the dressing room and entered, the door slammed behind her and she did nothing to stop it. The two men occupying the room gave her concerned looks but didn't say anything, instead allowing her to to stomp past them into the bathroom where she soon began crying.


	18. Chapter 18

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN**

Her brief crying spell didn't last very long and after waiting a few minutes to collect herself, Willow walked back into the room where both Mark and Glen were waiting anxiously for her to appear. The looks on their faces made it clear that each wanted an explanation for her emotional state and she didn't really feel like explaining herself to them. "I'm fine you two. Honest." Unfortunately it appeared that neither believed her and she plopped heavily down on the couch in between them. Not speaking for another moment, Willow rested her head against Glen's shoulder and put her legs up and over Mark's before fixing him with a determined stare. It was a comfortable position she had grown used to, despite never having been overly affectionate with men before meeting them.

Something about the pair of older men made her feel extremely comfortable and it was a feeling she had quickly grown accustomed to. The closest thing to a father-figure she had ever had was Giles and it was always apparent that Buffy would come first with him which hindered any extra bonding they may have done. When it came to Mark and Glen, however, she felt as though she had known them for her entire life. Her relationship with them reminded her of a mix of fatherly affection and the ability to talk about anything with them which was more common with a close friend. Added into the mix was their protective instincts when it came to her and she knew if anything ever happened to either of them it would be devastating.

It was another story when it came to her uncle Theo and there was no easy way to describe what she felt with him. The closest explanation she could come to was comparing him to an older sibling. They were there for each other and felt safe enough to talk about most things, but sometimes they could get under each others skins and for the first time Willow had someone that she could argue with but not get too sensitive over. All in all, it seemed as though things were going perfectly and she couldn't help but wonder what she had done to deserve a trio of guardian angels. Apparently her new found close-knit relationship with them and Ellie came at the price of appearing like a stuck-up bitch to the other people they worked with.

Willow had never intended to give anyone that kind of impression but it was difficult for her to associate with new people. She may have grown more confident in herself throughout the past weeks but in her heart she was still the same little girl who feared the worst in people. Being around everyone involved in the WWE was nothing like high school but she unconsciously avoided people because then they would have no power to hurt her. The former redhead really enjoyed the idea that nobody had a clue that she was secretly a bookworm who had no business becoming involved with wrestling. If anyone was able to uncover her genuine personality they would have her laughed out of the building, or so she figured.

Her eyes still locked on Mark, a sigh finally escaped her lips and a defeated expression came over her face. "Someone told me that everyone thinks I'm a total bitch..." Her voiced trailed off slightly after the word, not very pleased that she had sworn. "It just shocked tears out of me. I'm fine now." The man known to most as the Undertaker nodded in understanding and "the big red machine" gently wrapped an arm around her and hugged the girl who was currently leaning up against him. All three of them fell into a comfortable silence until Glen's eyes came to rest on the angry-looking bruise located on Willow's leg. His eyes narrowed in anger but his mouth remained shut while he carefully moved away from the girl who he thought of as a daughter and stood up.

"I need to get some water and you two should figure out what you're going to do out there tonight." He said nothing further and exited the room quickly, leaving Willow and Mark staring curiously after him. "What was that about?" She asked quietly, not expecting an answer. Her companion shook his head and shrugged. "I couldn't tell you, but he was right about one thing. We need to talk about tonight." A nervous feeling rushed straight into her stomach and she stared at the raven-haired man with an expression of apprehension which brought a laugh out of him. "It's nothing bad, Red. I was planning on asking if you wanted to get physical out there tonight." Her green eyes widened in shock and soon the two of them were immersed in conversation about his idea.

**********************************

The lie about needing some water had easily rolled off his tongue, but Glen had no intention of actually following up on his claim. Instead he cut a straight path towards the cafeteria where he knew Willow had traveled earlier on in the evening. He was on a mission to figure out exactly who had upset her earlier and most likely put that mark on her. He definitely had overprotective feelings regarding the sensitive girl and planned to send a message that anyone who messed with her would earn an angry seven foot tall man as a bonus. It came as no surprise when he quickly determined who had been speaking to her before she left the room. Glen was well respected by most of the superstars and backstage personnel and information was easy to come by.

Four minutes later he was knocking harshly on the door to the locker room where he knew Jeff Hardy and his brother Matt were dwelling. It wasn't long before the door was opened by the rainbow-haired warrior himself, who quickly found himself pushed back into the room with his back forced against the door that had slammed behind them. Before him was a sight no man wanted to see, Glen Jacobs with a seriously pissed off expression on his face. Too shocked to speak for a moment, Jeff could only stand there with the menacing figure in front of him. "You upset Willow." The words came fast and with a harsh, accusing tone. Not waiting for a response, the bald man continued. "What did you say to her?"

After what seemed like an eternity, Jeff managed to force his nerves into silence and was able to respond. "Look, man, I didn't do it on purpose. I was just trying to be friendly with her." Glen released the hold he had on the younger man but it was clear that he still wasn't happy. "That isn't what I asked you. _**What**__ did you __**say**__ to her?_" His threatening tone suggested that he wasn't above pinning Jeff to the wall again if he failed to respond. Luckily for both of them he did. "I just told her that everyone around here thinks she's kind of stuck up but I didn't mean to upset 'er." Glen's lips pursed and if possible his glare only grew more intense. "So you said that everyone thinks she's a bitch and it didn't occur to you that it could be upsetting?"

Thinking back on it, Jeff realized that he hadn't made a point to tell her that it wasn't an opinion he agreed with. He also hadn't thought about how his comment would effect her and now that he was considering it, felt like a complete ass. "Kane...Glen...I really didn't mean anything by it. Usually I open my big mouth before thinking and this is another example. At least show me where your locker room is so I can apologize?" The taller man glared down at him for another second and finally took a step back to unblock the door so he could turn the handle. "She's busy. Leave her alone and I won't have to come knocking on your door again. You got it?" Not even bothering to wait for the reply, Glen tightened his right hand into a suggestive fist and exited the room.


	19. Chapter 19

**CHAPTER NINETEEN**

For the first time in her career with the WWE, Willow's expression of white-hot rage as she stalked up the ramp towards the backstage area was completely genuine. Having been labeled a loser and bookworm in high school she was no stranger to how cruel her peers could be but this time it had sent her over the edge. At least before this point it had never come from someone she mistakenly thought she could trust and that was what hurt the most. She almost expected cruelty from strangers but it was a whole new ball game now that she knew her tormentor. Up to this point it had been Mark who handled the storyline aspect of her work and the former redhead had never doubted his reasons or ability, at least not until now.

When he had revealed earlier that she was finally being allowed to do more physical work with her character she had been partly nervous but most of what had driven her tonight was pure excitement. For the past month that she had been working both Mark and Glen had taken it upon themselves to put her through some very light training. They didn't outright show her how to wrestle, instead they had simply demonstrated a couple of the easier take down moves and how to fall correctly on the canvas so she wouldn't injure herself. Those sessions, however few and far between they had been, were already some of the favored moments from her time here. None of the moves she had been taught gave her any difficulty, in fact they were almost familiar after her extra curricular Sunnydale activities.

The evening had started out rocky with that run-in she had with the younger Hardy brother but discussing her role in the show tonight had cheered her up greatly. Now that it was said and done though, all she wanted to do was escape the premises and take out her frustration and outright anger on some vampires. Everything out in the ring tonight had started out as it was supposed to. The Undertaker had been in the middle of dominating his match against Christian when Chris Jericho ran from backstage to assist his former tag team partner and interfered with the match by hitting the legendary Phenom with a low blow which was Willow's cue. She had slid carefully into the ring from under the bottom rope as the bell rang to signal a disqualification.

She had raced at Jericho and knocked the unprepared Canadian out of the ring with a simple clotheslines and his look of utter surprise had been sold extremely well from her point of view. By this time Christian had rolled his own body out of the way and left the spotlight on an ailing Undertaker slowly rising to his feet and Willow herself. She had paused and offered him a hand, grabbing his forcefully when he refused her help, as was scripted. It was at this point when the careful planning they had done for this moment began to go down the tubes. With his own hand firmly grasped in hers she had twisted his arm around and pulled it behind his back in a painful but well executed maneuver. The problem was that he had been meant to counter the move and instead had allowed himself to move in slow motion, a mockery of Willow's efforts.

After realizing what had happened and that she had just been played for a fool she had made a break for the back which was where she was now. Usually she would have changed back into her street clothes but tonight she didn't want to waste time and take the risk of running into either Mark or Glen. She was beyond angry at the practical joke and had no intentions of sticking around to experience the fallout. It had begun as soon as she made her way backstage, the several pairs of eyes staring at her hadn't been difficult to notice and she was ashamed that they knew the wool was pulled over her eyes. The only person she stopped to speak with was Ellie and that was only because she had to explain that the borrowed clothes now on her back would be returned tomorrow.

Finally her bid for freedom was realized as she exited the arena through a back door that hardly anyone knew about and she had only found by accident earlier in the day. Willow had no clue about where she was going but was grateful to be away from the prying eyes and just began to walk. In her state of anger she was completely unaware that Jeff had seen her pass by and decided that he would go against Glen's wishes and speak with the girl whom he had upset earlier. Luckily enough he hadn't been scheduled for a match and was able to follow her even as she left the arena in a huff. The rainbow haired man wanted to approach her immediately but even without knowing her was aware that she was not in a mood to be messed with.

He was curious to determine what it was that had set her off in the first place, especially when her performance tonight had been so successful. Usually when there was downtime between matches some of the wrestlers would watch what was going on in the ring through the monitors and tonight had been no exception. Those who had were stunned when the elusive new girl put the arm hold on Mark with a speed that could be described as blurring. In fact, it was common knowledge to an exclusive group of wrestlers that the Undertaker had been meant to break the hold before it could be locked in and he hadn't managed to do that because she moved too quickly. That particular piece of gossip hadn't made the rounds yet and still Jeff was suitably impressed.

It never took very much to make his attention span go haywire and typically it wasn't a problem when he lost himself in a train of thought. He was quick to find out that tonight was an exception because when his eyes finally locked onto the brunette again, it was just in time to see her cut through an alley. It may not have been a problem if a pair of men hadn't swiftly followed her into the abandoned area. Immediately thinking the worst he began to sprint towards the opening she had disappeared through but it felt like an eternity before he reached it and when he did, Jeff froze with shock. Before him was a fiery-eyed Willow Rosenberg shoving a piece of what looked to be wood into the chest of the man in front of her.

Whatever he expected to see next flew out the window when the man disappeared in a shower of dust that rained down over the former redhead. Her own green eyes locked onto his with sharp clarity and for a moment they stood, mesmerized by each other. That single moment was finished in a heartbeat as Willow's eyes widened in fear and her mouth opened...but before she could warn him, the rainbow-haired man found himself being clubbed with a set of fists. His hard head kept him from being knocked out but he was laying on the ground unable to move as another man with a screwed up face stepped towards Willow. The fear in his heart seemed to be misplaced as she made quick work of this one and once again shoved the piece of wood through its heart.

Not entirely sure if he had honestly just seen two men disappear into dust, Jeff slowly rose to his feet with the help of the building he was leaning against. His gaze moved on to the woman in front of him and although he opened his mouth to speak no words came out. For her part, Willow had no clue how to explain to him what had just happened and almost wished that he would allow the Sunnydale denial to wash his mind clean of the images he had just seen. They were both left staring at the other, not sure how to cut the long, awkward silence that stretched before them short. Finally she gave him an innocent shrug and tried forcing a smile on her face. "Would you believe that those two were just gang members on PCP?"


	20. Chapter 20

**CHAPTER TWENTY**

Several moments after she delivered her hopeful question and no reply was given, Willow sighed loudly and shook her head unhappily. "Jeff, you really weren't meant to see that. Couldn't you just...forget about it? Please?" Her hopeful expression almost made him want to give in to her request but he knew that even if he told her what she wanted to hear, it would only be a lie. Regretfully he shook his head and watched her face fall in disappointment. Almost immediately he wanted to do something to cheer the brunette up but he didn't know her well enough to think of anything that could work. Finally he shrugged to himself and decided to bite the bullet by asking her a question. "You hungry? We could grab something to eat."

At first she was going to refuse his invitation but before she could open her mouth to say no, her stomach let loose with a traitorous growl that only indicated one thing...that she was hungry. The man across from her couldn't help but smirk at her unconscious reply and although the situation was still tense Willow couldn't help but smile herself. "I guess we both know the answer to that! There's a Perkins down the street from my hotel." Without waiting to ask if that was alright like she usually would, the former redhead simply turned and began walking in the direction of the restaurant she had just named. There was nothing for him to do but follow her and thankfully the walk filled with awkward silence didn't last too long.

Ten minutes later they were being seated and after the overexcited waitress asked for an autograph from the well-known wrestler they were once again left with nothing to say to each other. Thankfully they had their menus to occupy themselves with but each of them deciding what they wanted didn't take much time. One thing they had in common was being slightly annoyed by their server who seemed to have come to the conclusion that she needed to check on their table every two minutes to see if they had decided. Willow finally ordered a chicken sandwich with a chocolate shake and Jeff chose a glass of Coke with a bacon cheeseburger. The girl took their orders and scampered away to drop their ticket off to the cook.

Slowly the silence began to drive her insane and Willow couldn't keep herself quiet any longer. "I guess you want to know what that was...back in the alley?" "Yeah, that would be nice but first I want to apologize for earlier." She tried to stop him by raising her hand but he ignored the motion and continued. "Honestly I was just being impulsive and never thought about how that would sound. For the record though, I never believed it." It was the way he delivered the words that made her want to believe him and there was no good reason not to. After all, it wasn't as though he had made any indication that he found her stuck up or bitchy even after their first meeting when she had been less than kind to him.

Remembering that night made her face color slightly in embarrassment and she ducked her head in hopes that he wouldn't notice. Unfortunately it seemed like he had but Jeff decided to be a gentleman and let it slide. When she finally managed to force a cool expression on her face and raise her eyes back up to meet his, she was surprised to note that he was now smiling at her. The grin was slightly infectious and she couldn't help but return one of her own before she decided it was her turn to apologize. "That wasn't necessary, I just overreacted. I do that a lot, y'know? Oh, I guess you really don't. Well no, I've really only spoken with you twice and both times I was kind of a spaz. I do that a lot too. Oh god, please let me shut up."

Once again her face turned red but this time she made no move to hide it and instead dropped her eyes from his and focused them on her tablecloth which she idly began to play with as she continued. "I should be the one saying sorry for both times. Can we call it even?" For the second time her expression turned hopeful and this time Jeff was able to nod at her request. Without explaining his actions he extended a hand across the table and waited for her to shake it. She raised an eyebrow but gave in and wrapped her own hand in his which resulted in a slight spark of electricity that both of them noticed. Mentally shaking off the feeling, Jeff got to the point that he was trying to make with the gesture. "I'm Jeff Hardy, and you are?"

Her eyes lit up in recognition and she gave him a friendly smile. "Willow Rosenberg. I could swear I know you from somewhere, maybe work?" "I work as a wrestler for the WWE." "Small world. I'm a valet for..." Her voice trailed off and she tightened her hold on his hand that she just now realized she had never dropped. She broke the hold and pulled away as though their hands had been set on fire and Jeff couldn't help but be surprised at her sudden reaction. Not taking a moment to explain Willow quickly rose to her feet. "I'll be right back. Bathroom break." She took off across the room, berating herself the entire way for not being able to make it through a simple conversation without being reminded of the very reason she had stormed off earlier.

When she reached the bathroom she headed straight for the sink and turned on the water so she could splash some on her face. It was time for her to relax and try to figure out what exactly she was doing here, eating supper at Perkins with Jeff and acting like they were friends. Willow stood there for a moment and after awhile decided that she would just go out there, explain the situation about the vampires as easily as she could, eat, and forget that any of this had happened. She looked up and met her reflection in the mirror, almost surprised at what she saw. A stranger with hair that was almost black and too much makeup was staring back at her. With a start she remembered that the Willow Rosenberg of old was gone forever and the new one wouldn't run from an uncomfortable situation.

There was a decision that she had to make right then and now. She could follow the plan she had just created and walk away from this or go back out there and just do what felt natural. Always thinking and second guessing herself was much too tiring and if she continued the follow the path she had created at least one reason she came up with for leaving Sunnydale would be made pointless. Willow had left so she could learn more about herself and that would never happen if she always ran from uncomfortable situations. Being reminded of her earlier humiliation was no reason to suddenly leave Jeff sitting there by himself wondering if he had done something to upset her again. Again she met her reflection in the mirror and this time she stuck her tongue out at it before walking out of the bathroom.


	21. Chapter 21

**CHAPTER TWENTY ONE**

Upon entering the main room of the restaurant again she was chagrined to see their waitress once again at their table. This time she had seized the opportunity to lean over and give an unwilling Jeff an eyeful of her cleavage and the blond was apparently too stupid to realize that he wasn't comfortable. A playful grin stretched across Willow's face as a plan came to mind and she strode across the space with an annoyed expression. She reached their table quickly and _accidentally_ bumped into the waitress as she slid into the seat next to the rainbow-haired wrestler and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Babe, is this nice lady bothering you?" Jeff was caught completely off guard but swiftly figured out what the brunette was doing and wrapped an arm around her.

"She was just leaving." He gave the blond a pointed look and she let out a huff before walking away angrily. The pair of them sat there for another minute and suddenly Willow's serious face cracked and she laughed quietly. She was joined momentarily by the man at her side and for a minute the awkward nature of their meeting was forgotten. Unfortunately the moment couldn't last and she regretfully scooted away from him. "Hopefully that will get her out of your hair for awhile, Jeff." For his part, the wrestler was still confused about this strange girl's sudden change in mood but he decided to forget about it for the time being. "Yeah, thanks." They were left in silence again but for the first time it felt natural

For a quick moment she thought about how nice it had felt to have his strong arms around her but the woman from Sunnydale knew it would do her no good to dwell on it. She felt the need to get her mind off of those thoughts and although she dreaded the conversation they were about to have it was clearly a necessity. "So about earlier...I don't know what you want to hear and it might be best to just tell you straight." She waited for his consent which came in the form of a nod and took a deep breath. "The world isn't as cut and dried as you may think. Vampires are real and..." Gently he cut her off before she could finish her explanation. "Let me guess. I saw you fighting two of them? You really expect me to believe that?"

"No." Her simple answer knocked him for a loop and his green eyes clouded in confusion. "But....." It was her turn to cut him off. "I don't _expect _you to believe anything. That's the truth and if you can't handle it tomorrow you'll wake up and have convinced yourself that it never happened." His look of complete disbelief forced a laugh from her. "Trust me Jeff, I've seen it more times than I can count. Where I'm from it's explained away as gangs on PCP and nobody stops to wonder why we have so many of them running loose in our streets." He still wasn't saying anything and she nervously felt the need to keep talking. "My high school graduation was interrupted when our mayor turned into a giant snake and we had to blow up the entire school to kill him. The papers ran it as a gas leak."

Their conversation was interrupted again by their waitress but this time it was because their food had arrived. Jeff was left completely unable to speak and remained silent as his plate was set down in front of him. Willow on the other hand eagerly dug into her sandwich the moment it was placed in front of her. She hadn't eaten much today and now that she was here the hunger was overwhelming. The food was halfway gone before she looked up again and noticed that the man beside her still hadn't moved from his shocked position. She put the sandwich down and raised a hand to wave it in front of his face. "Jeff?" When he still didn't speak an impish smile appeared on her face and she couldn't resist.

"I find you completely sexy and we should go back to my hotel room." Her eyebrow rose as she waited for a response and finally the confusion in his eyes faded and was replaced by a different type of shock. Willow laughed and bumped her shoulder into his playfully. "You should see your face." Her smile faded when he didn't appear to be amused and she sighed again before continuing to devour the food in front of her. The former redhead's eyes whipped over to Jeff when he finally began to speak. "You're really serious aren't you?" Her eyes conveyed sadness as she once again placed all of her attention on him. "I am and if it would be easier for you I can just leave now and avoid you backstage when I can."

His response came quickly, almost too much so. "No! I mean, that isn't necessary. I must be safer for knowing. Right?" She took a moment to consider what she should tell him and came to a decision. "It means you can take precautions. The media has some of it right y'know. You can kill them by shoving wood through their heart, revealing them to sunlight, decapitation, or even lighting them on fire though that isn't very effective. They can't come in without an invitation and crosses will repel them but wont stop them completely." She decided that lightening the mood might be wise and couldn't resist adding, "and ironically they typically stay in during Halloween but there are exceptions to that.

Despite the seriousness of the conversation he couldn't help but snicker. "What? Big bad vampires scared of kids or something?" "Nope. They just hate how gimmicky it became." Her expression suddenly turned fierce and her eyes hardened. "Look, Jeff. I don't want to be harsh with you but you can't take this lightly. They _will_ kill you in a second if they get the chance and trust me, they will. It doesn't matter if you're a trained wrestler even if that helps a bit. I told you the truth because although I don't know you, I trust that you'll keep this information to yourself. If you tell anyone they might not understand and if they do...well, it's not an easy burden to carry. Maybe you don't get that now and I hope you never have to understand."

The playful mood was completely eliminated and he couldn't help but frown. "But you just said that knowing helps. If you somehow told the world about vampires we could do something about it!" He stopped when she quickly began shaking her head. "The world can't know. Think about it this way...if more people knew they would have less of a reason to be discreet. People would go out there and try to take care of vampires themselves and they would get killed. They're faster, stronger, and more ruthless than any human. I shouldn't even go out and try to fight them but I...." Telling him about Buffy wouldn't be fair to either of them and she cut herself off. "Just trust me and never relay this information to anyone. Please."

Silence fell upon them yet again as both finished their food without speaking. Willow was already regretting that she had opened her mouth and Jeff was left wishing that he could go back in time and stop himself from following her. Neither could change the fact that it was all said and done. Eventually their waitress brought over the check and the rainbow-haired man grabbed it before his female companion had the chance to. Soon they were getting up and Willow quickly slipped a twenty into his pocket when he wasn't looking. She was surprisingly sad that their time together had come to an end and before long he was bidding her adieu as she entered her hotel room. The pair failed to notice a pair of eyes watching as they said goodnight.


	22. Chapter 22

**CHAPTER TWENTY TWO**

Now that she was once again back in her hotel room Willow Rosenberg couldn't help but notice how awake her body still was. There was no way she would be able to get any sleep and sitting idly in her room going over the night's events again and again wasn't any more appealing. She was still wearing the clothing provided by the wardrobe department and her hair and makeup had been left untouched which meant she was more than presentable enough to be seen in public. In fact, she looked downright hot and now that she thought about it realized that she hadn't been to a club for several weeks. Typically the only one she would visit was the Bronze and of course that was out of the question, but she also remembered seeing a small club only a few blocks away from where she was staying.

Willow bit her lip as she considered the options before her. She could stay inside this room and find some way to occupy herself, there was plenty of stuff she hadn't been given the opportunity to do lately and this time could be used for one of those activities. On the other hand she was dressed to kill, there was a club well within walking distance and the thought of having a drink was now weighing heavily on her mind. Rarely did she feel the urge to consume alcohol because she knew how strongly it would effect her but desperate times called for desperate measures. It seemed as though the decision was made for her with the unconscious licking of her lips and soon she was entering Club Ruby. The thought that it was close to where those vampires had attacked never occurred to her.

As she stepped into the dimly lit club, a nervous feeling emerged in the pit of her stomach and she couldn't place a finger on her instincts were telling her to turn around and exit immediately. Moving closer to the bar she saw a familiar looking form sitting there and the feeling seemed to be explained. Sitting there and downing a beer was the cocky wrestler she had only met once before, Randy Orton. She sighed deeply and decided that leaving now would be pointless and instead took the seat next to him, figuring that he probably wouldn't even notice her. Unfortunately she was wrong and within moments of ordering her own beer he turned and a confident smile came over his face. "So you couldn't get enough of me, huh?"

She rolled her eyes and took a sip of the drink in front of her, forcing back the urge to make a face after consuming the bitter alcohol. "Yeah, that's exactly why I came. Get over yourself, Orton." Willow didn't realize that her choice of words could be taken the wrong way and the fact was thrown in her face with his next words. "I always knew I could make you _come_." Before she had a chance to react to this, the real reason she had begun to feel nervous upon entering Club Ruby became apparent when one of the patrons came forth and ordered a suspiciously thick-looking red drink. Her eyes widened in horrified realization and she finally took a good look at her surroundings which bore a strong resemblance to a bar she was familiar with back in Sunnydale, Willy's.

"Oh fuck me." Her quiet words were heard by the man next to her and now it was Randy's turn to have his eyes widen in shock. He hadn't figured her for the type of girl to be so blatant about wanting to take him back to the hotel. Of course their minds were on completely separate levels as he was now thinking about getting laid and she was trying to figure out a way to exit the club without arousing any unwanted attention. Her eyes wandered over to the door which was being guarded by two huge men whom she now knew to be vampires. She was pulled back to reality when the wrestler beside her spoke up again. "Never figured you for the easy type, Willow." For a moment the situation at hand disappeared from her mind and she gave him an enraged glare.

Once again she was interrupted before she could give him a scathing reply, this time it was due to the rough hand that had just been placed on her shoulder. Letting out a huge gulp, the fear she was feeling suddenly became apparent and even Randy picked up on it. "Dude, she obviously wants to leave with me. Back off." He turned to face the man who placed a hand on the brunette and was faced with a peroxide blonde who had a scarred eyebrow. William the Bloody, otherwise known as Spike gave him a condescending smirk and raised said eyebrow. "That's bloody priceless. You really think Red is going to..." The second she heard the familiar voice Willow had leaped out of her chair and thrown her arms around Spike, cutting him off.

"Spike! What are you doing here? That's not important! I have never been so happy to see you, we need to catch up. Right now. But not here." The relief over seeing his familiar face and the extreme fear she had felt before realizing he had been the one to put a hand on her shoulder was coursing through her and affecting her ability to speak sensibly. If he hadn't arrived just then...well, she wasn't going to think about how she could very easily have been killed. Now she just had to figure out how to get Orton to leave with her because as much as she disliked him, Willow couldn't in good conscious leave him in this volatile situation. She shot the vampire before her a look before turning to the man next to her. "You're right. I do want to leave with you. Let's go."

For his part, Randy Orton was now one confused guy. Just a second ago she had been telling this stranger that they needed to catch up but now she was trying to get him to believe she wanted to hook up with him. He hadn't drank enough to make the situation sensible and decided that she was playing some strange game with him so he shook his head. "Nah. You go "catch up" with Blondie here, I'm gonna stay." He made a tsking sound and gestured towards himself. "Too bad for you, ya could have had this." Willow wasn't sure how to proceed but she knew she couldn't leave him here to be killed by some vampire. She never had a real chance to figure it out as Spike simply grabbed Randy by the back of his head and slammed it against the bar.

He couldn't help yelping out with the pain that now coursed through his head thanks to that blasted chip but the desired result had been achieved and the guy that Willow seemed to know was now out cold and she was staring at the vampire in surprise. "C'mon, Red. I want to catch up and I know you won't leave without this dumb bastard. I had to speed it up." He was nearly whining but she was still feeling grateful and gave the peroxide blonde another hug despite herself and nodded gratefully. "Thanks, I guess. Would you...uh, carry him back to the hotel?" After that request he was definitely whining but he finally acquiesced and lifted the other man onto his shoulders. "The things I do for you Red."


	23. Chapter 23

**CHAPTER TWENTY THREE**

If she wasn't completely positive that she had never touched a drug in her entire life, Willow would have been certain that she was stoned. The only other plausible explanation for this situation was it happening to her in a dream but that wasn't the case either. Sometimes true events were crazier than anything that could be made up and this was a true example of such an event. Never would she have imagined when she woke up this morning that she would be ending the evening by dropping an unconscious Randy Orton in front of someone's hotel room before knocking on the door and running away like a giggling teenager playing ding dong ditch. Even more unlikely was the idea that she would be doing all of this with Spike of all people (or vamps) right beside her.

On their short walk back to the place where she was staying the pair of them had come up with this plan in hopes that the man in question would wake up tomorrow with the thought that he had drank too much. Had she decided to be realistic with herself, the girl from Sunnydale would have realized that she was hoping for far too much but seeing as how everything else tonight had been unbelievable...well, there was the chance that it could happen. Now that they had ditched their extra baggage there was plenty that they needed to catch up on and with that in mind they went to the elevator and rode it to the third floor where her room was. It never occurred to her that Spike had walked straight to the room where she was staying without having told him which it was.

He knew because he had been watching earlier, keeping an eye on her while he decided whether or not it would be wise to approach her. The last time they had spoken had not ended on amiable terms and despite his best efforts she had refused to answer the phone every time he attempted to reach her. At the moment she was too preoccupied to remember that she wasn't happy with the peroxide blonde and it was just as well because having a familiar face around was an especially comforting feeling. Finally they were through the door and Willow happily made her way over to the large double bed and flung herself down on it. Spike followed her and appeared to be slightly less enthusiastic as he approached the bed and sat on the chair next to it.

Once they were both settled there was a long pause of silence which neither of them struggled to fill. It wasn't quite comfortable but neither was it disconcerting and eventually she pulled herself up and settled herself against the pillow resting against the headboard. "What are you doing here, Spike?" She wasn't in the mood to mince words or make small talk and thus got straight to the point. He didn't reply immediately, instead a teasing smirk appeared on his lips and he slowly leaned back in his seat as he made himself comfortable. "Why, Red? Aren't you just thrilled to see me?" Willow just rolled her eyes and one of her eyebrows rose but she couldn't help forming a small smile at his words.

"Have I ever been even mildly excited to see you? Seriously I want to know why you're here." Suddenly their slightly teasing vibe disappeared as though it had never existed and he suddenly sat straight up in his chair with a serious expression on his face. "I can't stand your bloody _Scoobies_ any more." He emphasized the nickname they had created for themselves sarcastically and his tone had taken a nasty turn. Over on the bed Willow flinched just a bit but silently told herself not to show any signs that could be interpreted as weakness. "They treat me like a pile of dirt. I'm the Big Bad! You should all be cowering in terror, hoping against hope that I don't decide to slam a railroad spike through your brains like I would have in the past."

Willow had heard enough and was about to cut him off when he continued after his voice lowered considerably and actually took on a more sensitive sound. "I'm a vampire, Red, and I can't do what I do best. Do you know how terrible it is to be programmed to do something and one day just lose it? You were the only one to treat me with any kind of respect and you left." Out of nowhere his tone brightened and he actually smiled at her. "Good on you! They treated you the same way. Never appreciated all you did for them." She was completely bewildered by his sudden change in subject and by the outpouring of emotion that she never thought him capable of showing. If she was being honest with herself she was kind of creeped out by it.

Before he could continue on his rant she snorted loudly and nodded her head. "Don't I know it. But don't tell me that's why you're here. How did you find me anyway?" Once again he smirked at her and his expression made it clear that he was mocking her for not having figured it out already. "You serious? Think about it for just a tic, Red. How hard do you think it could be to track the WWE?" She paused and couldn't help but release a laugh at her own oversight. "Got me there. That doesn't tell me why you're here and don't give me some bullshit answer." If he was shocked at her use of profanity he was a professional at hiding it. "Wasn't positive I would even try and contact you. Last we spoke you were...less than pleased."

She remembered their last conversation but couldn't recall what had set her off so she simply shrugged it off. "I'm over it. If you didn't know that you wanted to find me, why'd you bother finding out where I would be?" Spike shot her an incredulous look before he realized that she had no idea about how interested he was in watching the form of entertainment she had become involved in. He wasn't sure he wanted to reveal that fact to her because she would most likely burst into laughter at the thought that he loved wrestling but in the end he didn't much care how she responded. "I've been watching the WWE for awhile now, haven't missed a week. You think you could get me in to meet some of the guys?"

For a long moment she just stared at him, unable to speak. When she was finally able to shut her mouth, it was followed by another few moments of silence as she tried to figure out if his inquiery was genuine. Deciding that he wouldn't make that kind of thing up, Willow held back an incredulous chuckle and nodded. "Well...you did save me tonight so I can talk to Stephanie about getting you a pass." She and the billion dollar princess had spoken on a few occasions and while they weren't friends, the former redhead knew that the youngest McMahon had the power to approve such a thing and that she most likely wouldn't reject it. Willow wasn't prepared for the look of pure glee that came over Spike's face and she couldn't help but grin.

"I can most likely get you in, but don't plan on having me there if you decide to speak with Mark or Glen." Knowing that he probably wouldn't recognize their backstage names she decided to clarify. "That would be the Undertaker and Kane if you want to ask. I'm not going anywhere near those jerks after the crap they pulled tonight." A lot had happened in the time since she stormed out of the arena but nothing short of getting amnesia would make her forget their nasty prank. She was attempting to show herself in a new light and they had had the stones to make a fool out of her which was something she couldn't soon forgive. "Look, Spike. I've had a long night and as much as we have to talk about, I'm going to sleep. Now get out or sleep on the floor, I don't care." With that she gave him a pointed glare and that was it.


	24. Chapter 24

**CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR**

It had been nearly a week since her overly exciting night and Willow wasn't at all prepared to return to work. She had made a silent promise to herself not to speak with Mark, Glen and even her uncle if she had any say in the matter. It was a pleasant surprise that she had easily been able to deal with Spike for the past week and some how had even enjoyed her time with the neutered vampire. They had spent much of the time catching up and there was plenty for both of them to talk about with Willow explaining her reasons for leaving and joining the WWE paired with the peroxide blonde's account of what was currently going on in Sunnydale. It was slightly difficult for her to hear that they didn't seem to miss her and had been functioning quite well without her presence.

Of course it was unfortunate that Spike was hardly within their inner sanctum and left unaware that they were actually suffering slightly in the absence of their formerly redheaded companion. It may have caused her even more emotional pain, however, to find out that it was more due to the fact that they hardly had her research or computer skills and had little to do with actually missing her. She was blissfully unaware as it was and couldn't help wondering how her life would be going if she hadn't left and joined up with the company. Willow did know that wondering about it and trying to determine how things might have been was somewhat pointless but couldn't help the stray thoughts that snuck up on her.

There was plenty for her to worry about in the current situation though, and thoughts of her home town were absent from her mind at least for the time being. At the moment she was currently on the phone, trying to make good on her promise to get Spike into the night's event. Her conversation with Vince McMahon didn't last very long because he was busy with getting the show in order but she had easily managed to convince him to set her up with a guest pass and a quick meeting before the show began. After thanking him she clicked the phone off and turned to face a grinning Spike. "So?" He questioned excitedly, having heard only her side and unaware of the result. For a second she tried to paste a sad expression on her face but was unable to hold it for long.

"You're in _but...._" She allowed herself to return the smile briefly before turning serious and staring him in the eyes. "You need to promise you'll behave and I don't care how much of a Big Bad you are. Agree or I can easily let him know that I no longer need the pass." He could tell she wasn't joking and may have been insulted by her obvious assumption that he would cause trouble if he hadn't know full well that he would have. Usually this was the part where he would be stubborn and refuse to listen to anything one of the "good guys" had to say but he didn't want to jeopardize his one opportunity to meet the wrestlers he watched every week. As guilty a pleasure as it was he couldn't deny his love for the WWE.

Without taking any time to consider the ramifications of agreeing he nodded his head. There was no way he could miss the relief that flashed across Willow's face and he had to snicker about how concerned she was. She didn't know that he had already decided to be on his best behavior for the evening because he secretly wanted the option of returning next week. The last thing he wanted was to go back to Sunnydale and become a damn whipping boy again and knew that if he was told to leave Willow alone that she, along with the rest of the Scoobies, would more than likely never see him again. In the back of his mind he hoped that wasn't going to happen because truth be told, he had become even fonder of her within the week they spent together.

Knowing that she would have some form of moral support during the show tonight did wonders for her self-confidence and Willow knew that she would be able to keep her promise to avoid certain men. Another one she had to add to that list was Randy Orton because she certainly wasn't looking forward to explaining what had happened the week before. She sort of hoped that he was one of the people who would justify it and pretend nothing had happened but something told her that those wishes would go unfounded. The former redhead wouldn't know for sure until she ran into him and she may not have been looking forward to it exactly but she wanted to know whether or not it would be a future concern.

She was slightly torn up with trying to determine if it would be advantageous for her to make an early appearance and eventually decided that it couldn't hurt. As excited as her new companion was to meet certain people tonight she knew it would be incredibly simple to convince him that hanging out before it was necessary would be a fun adventure. After spinning a few fancy words she had him practically begging to get to the arena and she couldn't help the slight smile his antic s were bringing her. It was nice to have someone she was so familiar with along for the ride even if it was the slightly annoying peroxide blonde. One thing that she was slightly worried about was one of the more rowdy wrestlers getting physical with him.

If her tentative friend and ally were attacked for whatever reason by someone, there was no telling just how guilty Willow would feel about it. The chances of such an event occurring were slim to none but her cautious nature made it impossible to ignore the possibility. She wondered if there was something that could be done to relieve her tension on the subject but there was no time to do anything tonight and it was possible that she wouldn't have to worry about it beyond this evening anyway. She shook her head quickly as she came to the conclusion that her eye would remain on him for the majority of the evening but it didn't occur to her that she would be pretty busy with other stuff.

Finally the unlikely pair was arriving at the building where the evening's event was about to take place and both of them were feeling entirely different emotions. Willow was really nervous about the meeting she had set up with Vince and how she was going to stay away from the men currently on her bad side. Spike on the other hand was extremely excited to have the ability to be among the wrestlers he often watched on the television screen. He may have been a vampire but even he wasn't immune to the charms brought on by various pop culture ventures. His name was already on the list for people that were allowed inside and within almost no time at all, Spike was finally among the backstage action that he craved.


	25. Chapter 25

When she had arrived at the WWE and first been introduced to the hustle and bustle of being backstage it had been overwhelming and without her uncle around she may not have been able to handle it without enduring a mild panic attack. It was clear that her companion had no such affliction as the peroxide blond vampire was currently looking around with a surprisingly childlike expression of joy on his face. Spike, for his part, had no clue what to do first. There were so many wrestlers that he wanted to track down and meet, namely the very two that his formerly redheaded companion was avoiding. He wasn't sure how to ditch her without appearing rude, she _had_ been the person to get him in after all, but the opportunity presented itself before he could even begin to plot.

She quietly informed him that she was expected to make an appearance at Vince McMahon's personal office and with that she disappeared around a corner and left him to his own devices. He approached the hallway she had just disappeared into and was surprised to see how confusing the area was. Normally he would be taking advantage of his extra strong sense of hearing to single out the voices he wanted but unfortunately it was much too noisy to take advantage of that particular skill. He was still trying to decide how to proceed when there was a solid tap on his shoulder. Upon whirling around he was met with an angry looking Randy Orton's fist rapidly approaching his face which he was unable to avoid.

Although his instincts were screaming at him to throw a punch of his own in retaliation, the logical part of his brain realized that the simple act of violence was not worth the excruciating pain the chip in his head would surely bring. He barely managed to suppress the urge to snarl at the man threatening him and instead cocked the eyebrow that wasn't scarred and stared his opponent down. "What the bloody hell is your problem, mate?" Many grown men would be terrified by the nasty look Spike was capable of giving but the cocky young wrestler before him was not one of them. Randy just laughed in his face and a look of superiority flashed across his expression. "Are you challenged, blondie? **You** are clearly my problem."

Once again the vampire was forced to curb his violent impulses and play nice although he figured the pain would almost be worth teaching this punk a lesson. As it was he knew he had to play nice or the witch would turn him into a newt which reminded him of Monty Python and brought a laugh to his lips. The man in front of him assumed he was being made fun of and the wrestler's own temper began to rise. "The last thing I remember seeing before being knocked out is your face and by some force of God or whatever, now you show up and give me a chance to kick your ass." A smile spread across the face of Randy Orton and there would have been a further scuffle if it hadn't been for the booming voice behind him.

"Kid, is that any way to treat guests around here?" The cocky expression was immediately wiped from the younger wrestler's face as he quickly identified the man's voice. He knew that the question seemed innocent enough but the message that came through was to get out of there while he still could. To mask his bruised ego he sneered at Glen Jacobs as he left the area but both men knew who was the dominant force and it wasn't the one with the tattoos. While this was going on, Spike was doing his best to hide the glee in his eyes that the tall man's appearance had brought to him. It wasn't every day that you got to meet your favorite bad ass "celebrity" and he was determined not to appear like a starstruck teenager.

He had just managed to retain his cool exterior when Glen's attention turned to him. Spike was wondering why the huge man would speak up for him but didn't much care about the reason as much as the act itself. The answer was given to him regardless with the bald man's first words directed at him. "How the hell do you know Willow?" He had seen the pair arrive and was observant enough to tell that his honorary "daughter" seemed to be more than comfortable with the new man and it was slightly baffling as he knew how uncomfortable she could become with strangers. The peroxide blond wasn't at all phased by the question and his expression quickly became bored. "Red and I go waaaay back."

Of course he was intelligent enough not to mention exactly how they had met, or that he had attempted to kill her on more than one occasion. He may not have been a super genius but it wasn't hard to tell that the man before him was protective of the brunette. He was also quick to remember that the girl from Sunnydale was less than pleased with this man and wasn't ashamed about bringing that up. "Why do you care, anyway? She hates you." Okay, so he knew full well that there was no long term truth to that statement but he wasn't about to be a perfect angel just because she had got him through the door. He noticed that "Kane" tensed up when he heard just how upset Willow was and may have felt bad if it wasn't for the lack of a soul.

Meanwhile, the girl in question was sitting in Vince McMahon's office waiting for him to get off the phone so she could discuss her future in the company with him. She didn't have to wait for long as he was finished within five minutes of her taking a seat across from him. He gave her a quizzical look and Willow decided to get straight to the point without wasting any time. "I don't want to work with Mark any more, at least not closely." She could see that he was about to say something and took a quick deep breath before continuing and cutting him off when he opened his mouth to speak. "I understand that I signed a contract and don't have much say in what you use me for but at least hear me out?" Her boss nodded and a tiny, relieved smile spread across her face.

"Last week didn't go as planned but I think we can use that to our advantage from a creative standpoint. My character didn't specify why exactly she was basically stalking the Undertaker and we could really do something with that. He's supposed to have some dark, mystical power right?" Vince looked perplexed about where she was going with this but nodded so she could continue. "So it stands to reason that someone else, Briar, could have a similar thing going on. If something like...let's just call it magic...existed, it would be some kind of big secret right? Maybe she's pissed that he isn't following the guideline of being subtle about it and was staking him out? It's not too far of a stretch, right?"

She was kind of desperate for him to agree with her and was greatly relieved when he finally nodded once again. It was only after an extended pause of consideration that he decided to join the so far one-sided conversation. "That sounds solid, Ms. Rosenberg, but where are you going with this?" To be honest she hadn't really thought that far ahead and his question surprised her somewhat but she was feeling juiced and an answer flew straight to her lips. "She's done with her primary mission so maybe it's time for her to make some kind of ally. It wouldn't make as much sense for her to go after the Undertaker by herself but if she got someone, one of the male wrestlers, to go along with her...."

Vince was quickly catching on to what she was saying and if he was being honest, her idea wasn't actually too terrible. It had struck a cord of suspicion but that was something for him to worry about later, for now he was feeling agreeable. "That does sound like something we can go with. Is there any reason you want to stop working with Mark?" He had of course seen what happened last week but didn't know the details and was someone who liked to be in on backstage happenings with his employees. All he received as an answer was an unhappy look and stony silence which he appropriately took as unwillingness to talk about it. "Fine, we'll work with the idea you came up with. Anything else?" Willow shook her head and left the office before further words could be exchanged.


	26. Chapter 26

A/N: Wow, it's been such a long time since I've updated. My apologies for that! I got kind of stuck on this story and only recently got inspiration to continue it but I'm not sure what the future of this story holds. If anybody is still reading this and has any suggestions for me I'm glad to hear them.

**CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX**

By the time Willow had left her meeting with Vince, brief though it was, the area where she had left her troublesome vampire companion had been abandoned and he was no longer in sight. The observation would have perturbed her if it wasn't for the distraction that quickly came her way in the form of Jeff Hardy. The rainbow-haired high flyer was on a straight line headed right towards her and it was apparent that he wanted to speak with her. He wasn't someone she was exactly looking forward to coming in contact with, especially after their encounter with the vampires last week but she wasn't about to run away from him.

The time for avoiding her issues had passed and Willow was now certain that trying to ignore them would only cause them to become worse over time. Keeping that in mind she let a smile come across her face and it happened too quickly for her to realize how genuine it was. She was saved from another awkward solo conversation with him when an energetic Ellie bounced up beside her and laid a hand on the former redhead's shoulder. Her presence had been announced ahead of time with an excited "D!" escaping her lips and thus Willow didn't react unfavorably to the unexpected contact. Unfortunately for her the blonde had a confrontational topic in mind. "Why did you up and disappear in your clothes last week?"

Willow shook her head and sighed unhappily, showing clearly that she didn't want to talk about it. Her newfound friend wasn't the type to let something go that easily, however, and the fact wasn't lost upon the girl from Sunnydale. "I'm gonna go ahead and guess you won't drop this without explanation?" The inquiery wasn't even necessary but her spirits still fell a bit when Ellie proved her correct and shook her head. By now Jeff had reached them and although their time together the week prior had been short, somehow it felt as though he could be a comforting presence when she explained her displeasure following the last show. His eyebrows went up in confusion as Willow linked one of her arms through his own and the wardrobe girl's and gently but confidently began leading them towards one of the rooms that seemed to be abandoned. Spike would have to wait.

-----------------------------------------------

If she had known where the peroxide blond had disappeared off to it would only have brought her further stress. He had nearly been dragged back to Mark and Glen's room by the not quite jolly red-clad giant for questioning. The brit's seemingly close relationship with Willow had set off warning bells in Glen's head and he was determined to figure out how this man knew his honorary niece. His possibly being able to explain the girl's actions last week was only a bonus. Saying he was surprised to see his close friend barreling into their shared locker room with a stranger in tow would have been an understatement but you never would have been able to tell from his expression. For his part, Spike was trying desperately not to show his awed reaction to the sight of The Phenom but it was a battle he seemingly failed as Mark shot a glare past him to his storyline brother. "Why would you bring some fan back to our room?"

Spike was about to pipe up that he wasn't just some fan but quickly shut up when Glen glared at him and motioned towards the couch. Sure, normally he couldn't be stopped by just anyone no matter how huge they were but something told him an opportunity had risen that he couldn't pass up and if being quiet would let him stay, so be it. He obediently took a seat and silently wished he had some popcorn to munch on while viewing this exchange. Glen shook his head and motioned towards the vampire with a thumb. "He isn't just 'some fan,' the guy knows Willow." Suddenly the stranger's presence made a lot more sense to the Undertaker and he nodded in understanding. Then without warning he turned a sharp gaze on the newcomer. "How do you know her?" Spike suddenly got the impression that he shouldn't just rattle off the casual response he had given Kane earlier.

"I already told Big Red over there that me and," he broke off with a slight chuckle. "Well, me and Little Red go waaaay back." When he looked up at the two taller men they looked as though they were about ready to physically provoke him into a more specific answer. "I'm from her bloody home town, no need to carve me up like some bird. I wouldn't suggest that anyway if you want to know what's gotten her so worked up....." His words were enough to convince them to keep their hands to themselves but his statement only brought further suspicion to both. Mark was the first to open his mouth and call Spike out on his probable lie. "Her home town, hm? I wasn't aware she was from out of this country." His reply may have seemed mild but there was a hard look in his eye that convinced the vampire to explain himself even further.

Spike was someone disgruntled that they didn't seem prepared to accept a simple explanation but figured it would be better for him to keep that to himself. He took a moment to figure out how to word his response so he wouldn't be on the receiving end of another beating. "I had...business to attend to in Sunnydale and that was how we met. Through one of her friends, Buffy. You _have_ heard about her, yeah?" The question was answered for him when the two men frowned and remained silent. Despite having quickly grown comfortable with her new group of friends, Willow had refrained from disclosing too much information, worried that she would give away the secret she was meant to keep from the world.

He smirked, knowing now that he had the advantage over both. There was information that he had and they wanted. Instead of giving in and telling them exactly what he knew they wanted to hear, Spike stood from his position on the couch and gave the pair a sarcastic salute. "I'm just going to be getting on my way." It was clear that they weren't about to let him through so he shook his head and tsked aloud. "You want to know what I do but clearly Willow hasn't told you anything. It doesn't seem as though she will be any time soon either, so ta." This time he pushed past them and neither tried to stop him.


	27. Chapter 27

**CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN**

While her vampire 'friend' was having a confrontation with the Brothers of Destruction, Willow was having her own tricky conversation with Jeff and Ellie. She wasn't entirely sure why she had decided to confide in them but it was possible that they would have some sorely needed input for her. Both were somewhat confused about why she had dragged them into an empty room for this discussion but having seen the determined expression on her face, neither were prepared to argue. As soon as she had closed the door behind them, the brunette spun around and gave the pair a wide but clearly forced smile. They stood in silence for a minute while Willow composed herself before finally she began to speak. "Last week was kind of crazy, huh?" Ellie nodded with a smile on her face but Jeff's expression was much more contemplative as he tried to determine whether or not the blonde was also in on the vampire secret.

His curiousity was satisfied a few moments later as the newest diva continued to speak following her rhetorical question. "I know it was weird for me to storm off like that but I was pretty peeved with those...those big lugs. They were my first real friends here, other than you," she nodded towards the wardrobe girl. "When they pulled that nasty trick on me I did-" The former redhead was caught off guard when Jeff interrupted. "Nasty trick? What did they do?" "Yeah? You seemed fine before you went out there and surprised the hell out of 'Taker!" The second contribution was made by the bubbly blond and Willow turned abruptly to face her with confusion clearly clouding her expression. "What do you mean I surprised him? He was supposed to break out of that hold and push me away but instead he decided to make a mockery of me and pretend I was too quick."

Saying those words out loud made her feel slightly foolish as though she had overreacted, but Willow didn't take being fun of in front of thousands as very funny. Having been exposed to the WWE for only about a month, she was naive to the fact that they didn't often simply pull pranks during a live telecast. To her bewilderment the two in the room with her were staring incredulously and for a fleeting moment she wondered if she had something on her face. The silly idea was forgotten a moment later when her new female friend actually started chuckling. Willow was starting to get irritated when Jeff joined in on the laughter a moment later and left her staring at the both of them. Something wasn't right and she wanted them to stop snickering and explain what was so funny. The younger Hardy was the first to calm down and explain the situation.

"Willow...you're the one who kind of screwed him up." She gave him an uncharacteristic glare and tapped her foot on the ground as she waited for him to extend upon that statement. "Do you have any idea how quick you were moving out there? I don't think even Rey could have countered that move." It didn't take him long after her inquisitive look to understand that she didn't know who he was talking about. "Rey Mysterio? The masked guy who is always flying around the ring?" He shook his head and raised an eyebrow. "You really don't know much about wrestling, but that isn't the point." Ellie was just watching the two and trying to decide if either realized she was still in the room with them but she wasn't about to interrupt the moment to reaffirm her presence. "Willow, _you_ surprised the hell out of _him_ last week, not the other way around."

She took in his explanation and suddenly it was as though a veil was lifted from before her eyes. Having been involved in the fight against vampires for so long, her instincts and reaction time had adjusted to the superhuman speed with which they operated and while she may not have been able to match it, it was more than likely that her responses were faster than the average person. Her emerald green eyes went huge as she began to understand what she had done and regret washed over her. "I need to find them and apologize, what did I do?" Jeff raised a comforting arm and slung it around the distraught woman's shoulders. "They'll forgive you. Hell, they see you as a daughter enough for Glen to threaten me away from you." When she turned her eyes up at him and he noticed them darkening slightly with encroaching anger he shrugged away from her and lifted his arms. "It wasn't a big deal, he approached me last week after I upset you."

The memory of thinking he had called her a bitch returned to her and the anger subsided back into the feeling of guilt over how she'd treated the two men she thought of as father figures. Why was she so quick to jump straight towards anger these days? It was a question that could wait for another time and place, right now she wanted to find them and make things right. Ellie gave her a reassuring smile and opened to door for her which Willow barely acknowledged as she walked out. Her mind was now firmly on figuring out which room Mark and Glen had taken but her quest was cut short when she saw Spike leaving through a door a short ways down the hall. She was prepared to call him over when two pissed off wrestlers followed him, the bald one throwing him solidly against the wall. Glen's voice was loud enough to carry down the hall. "You need to tell us what you know about Willow you snivelling little...." His diatribe was cut off when Mark nudged him and nodded towards the girl who had just been looking for them.

All thoughts about apologizing to them had abandoned her mind when she saw them manhandling the peroxide blond who, unknown to them, couldn't defend himself. She strode down the hallway with a growingly familiar angry expression and 'Kane' instantly let go of the man in front of him and stepped back with his arms raised placatingly. Willow paid him no mind and grabbed Spike's arm, pulling him next to her and silently asking if he was alright. The vampire had to hide his smirk as he nodded because he knew the tongue-lashing the pair of storyline brothers was about to receive. He wasn't about to be disappointed. "What are you two doing harrassing him? I was just coming to look for you so I could explain about last week and maybe even apologize but it's good to know that it will not be necessary. Leave him out of this and while you're at it, leave me out of it too."

Not thinking about how she would react to him, Mark spoke out. "You don't have much of a choice now that you're working with us." Standing next to Willow, Spike snorted and not for the first time that night wished he had a bowl of popcorn. Jeff, who had exited the room behind Willow put an arm around her waist and was about to pull her away when Glen fixed him with a glare that didn't go unnoticed by the irate brunette. "Don't you dare look at him like that, _Kane._" She used his stage name, knowing that by omitting his actual name she was sending a message. "Jeff has more integrity than the both of you, who by the way I'm no longer required to work with." The surprised reaction she got only served to add fuel to the fire. "I talked to Vince about getting my storyline changed and y'know? I'm not even going to explain it to you." She turned on her heel and walked away from the entire group, paying no attention to the small crowd who had formed while she was giving them a piece of her mind.


	28. Chapter 28

**CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT**

Even as she was walking briskly to escape the scene of her latest outburst, Willow was trying to figure out where her angry steps were taking her. She had burned her only bridge into a locker room just moments ago and there was nobody else that she could turn to. Her only other possibility was one Jeff Hardy and he had been present for her temper tantrum, for the moment she wanted to leave the memory behind and focus on something else. Not even a minute later she was cursing her luck as she was given an unwelcome answer to her problem. She had just slowed down into a more relaxed pace when a muscled, tattooed arm snaked out of the room she was just passing and pulled her in with enough force to forgo any efforts at struggling. When her head whipped around and she faced her "attacker" a quick wave of fear flowed through her as she met the cold gaze of Randy Orton.

She was struck speechless for a moment which gave him ample opportunity to slam the door shut behind her and effectively shut off any chance she had of escape. He took further advantage of her stunned silence and spoke first. "I'm not here to hurt you, Willow." A shiver ran down her spine as the Legend Killer said her name aloud. She wasn't given the chance to determine if it was due to fright or another force which was just as powerful. "All I want to know is what the hell happened that night." He didn't elaborate any further but the evening in question didn't require specification. Finally her voice returned to her and she took a few seconds to decide the best course of action. "Nothing. Some biker hit you from behind and knocked you out so we brought you back to the hotel." Randy's eyes narrowed angrily and he shook his head. "That's bullshit, Willow."

Of course he just had to go repeating her name and this time when she shivered her mind had to be forced away from reanalyzing her reaction to him. He seemed to notice that she was apparently quite frightened and in a move uncharacteristic to him, Randy's expression became significantly less frosty and his voice lost the intense edge. A small smile was forced onto his face and while she knew it wasn't genuine, the tension in the room lessened. "Can't you just accept that something happened and it's not my place to say anything?" Willow was trying to make it sound like she wasn't begging but had anyone been listening in they wouldn't have found her efforts very successful. For that matter neither did the Legend Killer and he was very much intrigued as to the reason she was so against giving him a simple explanation. There was nothing he could think of that would warrant such resistance.

Deciding that it would help further lighten the mood, Randy gave his first genuine smile directed at her and chuckled. "Next thing you know, you'll be telling me it was because the Boogyman was going to eat me or something." To his complete surprise she blanched at what was supposed to be a simple joke and she was clearly trying to recover from her telling reaction. Instead of coming up with a halfway decent sounding excuse, the former redhead burst into nearly hysterical laughter. "That would be wicked stupid, huh?" Willow cringed but whether it was due to the phrase she had just used or because she wasn't being very subtle was unclear. "Look, could you _please_ just let this go? I have to be able to convince you somehow." His natural reaction was, of course, to lean towards the more physical ways she could do some 'convincing' but something told him that wouldn't go over very well.

He kept that idea to himself and his eyes grew cold once again, a fact which she was quick to notice. Willow couldn't help but curse her rotten luck. "Randy...please." If this encounter went on much longer an out would present itself to her and both people occupying the room understood that which brought the third generation superstar to his next decision. "Go out to dinner with me after the show tonight." Her immediate shock was presented in the quick widening of her eyes and she stared at him distrustfully which he took notice of. Rolling his eyes, he just gave her a long look before responding. "I would imagine you'd be more comfortable talking when we aren't alone in a locker room." That logic couldn't be argued with and she knew it. "I'll come find you after Raw, then." Without further words she pushed past him and left the room, not even looking behind once.


	29. Chapter 29

**CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE**

There was a tiny, naive part of her that hoped Randy would forget about her deal to go out to dinner after the show but of course she was well aware that it was a foolish dream. For some reason he was really adamant about finding out what had happened after he was knocked out at the bar and Willow could understand that, really she could. That knowledge didn't make it any less awkward for her to be forced into spending time with him though. And of course there was that small issue that saw her standing alone in the hallway unsure of where to turn to. She had just thrown a pretty big scene and the more she thought about it, the redder her face grew. There had been something happening to her ever since she had signed her contract with the WWE and Willow wasn't entirely sure it was a positive change.

Never before had she given people such an attitude and honestly it was a mystery to her that she was starting now. Thinking back to when Jeff had told her people figured she was a stuck up bitch, the brunette was really starting to wonder how she had made any friends at all. She was lucky that the rainbow haired wrestler seemed to be laid back enough to accept her tantrums and perhaps luckier that she hadn't exposed Ellie to that side of her. The clothing specialist certainly didn't seem to be the type of woman that would put up with any crap, Willow thought to herself with a quiet laugh.

She was just getting around to figuring out a plan of action when the cell phone in her pocket began to buzz insistently. Curious about who would be calling her, especially when she was at work, the former redhead quickly pulled out the device and was mildly shocked when she noticed Buffy's name on the screen. Quickly following the shock was a feeling of dread and she simply stared at the phone in terror before lifting it to her ear and clicking it on. "Hello?" The feeling in the pit of her stomach intensified when she was greeted with a frantic sounding Slayer. "Willow! You have to come back to Sunnydale! Riley...Riley..." Apparently the blonde on the other end of the line couldn't finish her sentence and cut it off with a barely controlled sob. "And Giles is in the hospital." At this point the urge to throw up had consumed Willow and before she had a chance to respond, she was greeted with a dial tone.

There was no denying that she was absolutely shaken to the core by the call she had just received and she just barely managed to make it to a nearby trash can before she lost her dinner. When the heaving had mercifully stopped she just stood there, bent over the disposal unit trying to gather up the strength to move. From the sound of the call, something horrible had happened to Riley and in Sunnydale there was only one thing it could really be. If she had been thinking clearly, it would have been a surprise that somehow she managed not to start sobbing in the middle of the hallway but instead of breaking down she was just plain shocked. Willow knew one thing for sure and that was an unyielding need to book the first plane back to her home town regardless of what her boss told her. She may have been left frozen there for much longer if another presence didn't make themselves known.

"Hey, are you okay?" At the unfamiliar voice her head spun around quick enough to make her a bit dizzy and the distraught girl swayed slightly on her feet. Without a second thought the man reached out and steadied her with a gentle hold on her arm and the unexpected but kind gesture was enough to snap her out of the shock and immediately she began to break down into sobs. "No! I'm not okay!" Her tone might have come out as rude if there weren't tears running down her face. Unsure about what to do with this crying stranger, the man awkwardly patted her on the arm. "Shhh, just calm down and take a deep breath or you'll get sick again." It didn't take a genius to figure out why she had been leaning over the garbage can. At his words she looked up at him with glistening green eyes as she tried to process what he was telling her. After a few minutes of desperately trying to breath deeply she was able to speak again.

With a still slightly unsteady voice Willow asked, "Who are you, and why are you being so nice to me?" The tall, muscularly built man looked slightly surprised at her questions for some reason but in her current frame of mind she didn't notice. "I'm Paul Levesque." He ignored her second question for the time being because he wasn't sure how to answer. "Do you need to go back to the hotel for the evening? What's wrong?" Usually she wouldn't be so open with a complete stranger but her defenses were all the way down and she didn't have the strength to try and avoid answering his inquiery. "I just got a call from a friend in my home town and she didn't say much but from the way she made it sound her boyfriend is dead and one of our close friends is in the hospital and I just need to go back home but I have a contract and Vince isn't gonna let me leave but I have to! Oh god. What am I going to do?"

This was clearly something Paul was not expecting to hear and his eyebrows flew all the way up as he tried to process the wealth of information she had given him. Before he could even begin to respond she continued to go off. "And I have that stupid dinner with Randy, if I disappear without telling him he's going to be so pissed!" If anything, this came as more of a surprise to Paul than anything she had already said. From the way she made it sound she had a date with a hotheaded guy named Randy, and that could really only be one person but this girl didn't seem to be his type at all. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, the blond haired man finally responded to her. "Vince isn't a monster you know, he will absolutely let you go if you explain the situation to him. In fact, you should just go and I'll take care of him."

Once again, if she had a clear mind she would have questioned his offer but she was far too frazzled to really think about what he had just said. "Are you sure?" At his nod she lept forward and pulled him into a hug that very much surprised both of them. Before either had a chance to respond, Willow was bounding down the hallway with a look of purpose on her face. As she was speeding away, she noticed Adam standing in one of the hallways and she drew to a stop in front of him while the man just stared at her.

Instead of beating around the bush, she got straight to the point. "Look, I know you hate me because I've been a total bitca to you. I don't have time to apologize properly but I'm sorry and please...please find Randy and tell him I can't make it tonight. There's an emergency at home and someone very important to me is in the hospital so I have to go back immediately." Without waiting for a response she continued on her way, unaware that Jeff Hardy heard her exchange to Adam and was now wondering why she had a date with Randy Orton.


	30. Chapter 30

**CHAPTER THIRTY**

She was already more than halfway to the airport in the cab she had frantically hailed when Willow realized that she had completely forgotten about the presence of a certain bleach blonde vampire whom she had left behind with no message whatsoever. There was no way for her to get ahold of him other than to contact someone left in the building, but she only had the phone numbers for people she didn't care to speak to at the moment. It was a question of her loyalty to him whether or not she wanted to bite the bullet and call her uncle, Mark, or Glen. The two of them weren't exactly friends...he had, after all, tried to kill her in the past. The more she thought about it, however, the more the guilty feeling crept up on her and finally she glared at her cell phone as though it was the object's fault this was happening. Biting back a sigh, she scrolled through her contacts and clicked send on a familiar name.

There were several rings before a gruff voice answered, "Hello?" Unseen by the man on the phone, she clenched her fist as she responded. "Mark, this is Willow." For a second the wrestler dubbed as the Undertaker wondered if this was really the woman who had not an hour before been putting him in his place. He knew from the voice that it was really her, however, and quickly grew concerned as he realized she would not be calling him if it wasn't some kind of emergency. For the moment he shoved down his surprise. "What do you need, darling?" She wasn't in the mood for his pet names but really needed him to do her this favor and instead of answering with attitude, she bit it back. "I have an emergency back home, Mark." It was all she could do not to sound as choked up as she felt but her efforts were unsuccessful and his worry quickly grew into dread. "What happened?" "I'm not even completely sure, but I don't have time for this and frankly I don't even know that you deserve an answer."

Willow frowned as the words flew out before she could stop them and on the other end of the line, Mark was doing the same but for a different reason. "Look, I need you to do something for me and I know we aren't on good terms but I need to get a message back to Spike." At the mention of the rude punk who had, in his mind, caused the latest rift between him and the brunette he had to control his anger and make sure it wasn't reflected in his voice. "Fine." His answer may have been short but it was the word she was hoping to hear. "I need you to tell him that something happened to Riley and to..." She had to trail off for a moment to regain control over her emotions but the moment grew into minutes as she fought against the tears that were threatening to spill once again. "Just tell him something bad happened. He'll understand."

Before he could try and drag any more information out of her, he heard the tell-tale click that let him know she had hung up. As frustrated as he was with the situation Mark was a man of his word and he would get the message to Spike if it was the last thing he did. Then again, if that punk kept trying to piss him off, it would be the last thing he heard. Stubbornly and with a touch of anger, he shook his head at the thought. It was his own fault he had pushed that young woman away, the responsibility was on him no matter how badly he didn't want to admit it. It would have been a weaker man's way to claim innocence in the situation and he was not the type to run away from his problems no matter how much he wanted it. Unfortunately he didn't have any control in the situation and he could only hope she would eventually forgive him. Perhaps acquiescing to her request would put a start to it.

Meanwhile, the cab had pulled up to the curb of the airport just as their conversation was ending. It was part of the reason she had hung up so quickly, because although she was angry at him for what had happened, she had better manners than to hang up on him without so much as an insincere "thank you" for the message he had agreed to pass on. She paid the cabbie quickly and took a deep breath as she stepped out of the vehicle and took in the view of the front of the impressive looking structure. There was no time to appreciate it however and she quickly made her way inside and through the check-in point. The distraught young woman had been in too much of a rush to pack any belongings so it wasn't long before she was sitting in the designated waiting area, anxiously hoping for the flight to start boarding so she would have some time for attempting to gather her thoughts. Luckily her wait wasn't long and before she knew it, they had boarded the plane and it was taking off.


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter Thirty-One**

The second she disembarked the plane and set foot down on Sunnydale soil, Willow felt a cold shiver of dread run all the way down her spine and it chilled her straight to the bone. She would have simply contributed it to further concern for Giles if not for the evil she could practically feel contained along with it. Was this a sense of foreboding or...no, she realized with a slight start, it was the dark essence of the Hellmouth she could feel buzzing around in the back of her mind. There were more important things to worry about, she decided, most likely it was because she had spent time away that the presence of it felt new and different. Shoving that issue to the back of her mind, the former redhead hailed another cab and instructed the driver to hurry with the promise of a significant tip. Her cabbie was more than happy to oblige and it wasn't long before the yellow vehicle pulled up to the curb of Sunnydale General.

Wasting no time at all, Willow approached the check-in desk and waited impatiently for the rotund woman sitting there to notice her appearance. Her foot tapping in a steady beat on the ground, she finally decided to ring the bell to garner the lady's attention. After what seemed like forever the woman finally looked up and smiled at her. "How can I help you, Hon?" After explaining about her "Uncle Giles" being hospitalized she pulled out her ID and subtly swiped her hand across it and changed her last name with a quick glamour spell. Her identification having passed inspection, Alice (Willow had noticed a name tag pinned haphazardly to the lady's shirt) started typing on her computer when a frown appeared on her face. "I'm sorry, there isn't anyone under that name admitted here. Our records show that he was checked out not an hour ago."

The expression on her face was sympathetic but she reached out and patted Willow lightly on the arm. "That must mean whatever it was isn't serious, so that's good right?" "Thanks," the brunette forced out as she spun around and stormed off, leaving Alice very confused about why she so angry about her Uncle's discharge. _Ugh!_ She couldn't believe this, not one bit. Buffy had sounded absolutely devestated over the phone and something was just not adding up. The only course of action she could think of was to hail yet another cab and head over to the Watcher's apartment to see if he was there. Fifteen minutes later she was knocking on his door when it swung open to reveal a happily surprised, if not slightly groggy Giles. "Willow, what are you doing here?" Her jaw dropped just a little bit and she nearly had to take a deep breath before she could even speak. Without saying anything further she leapt forward and pulled him into a hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay, but what...You are okay right?" Her voice trembled just a little bit and the happy surprise on his face melted into a look of confusion and concern. "Why don't you come in? It appears we have something to discuss." She tried to peek around him suspiciously to see if Buffy or anyone else was in the apartment behind it. It seemed clear other than him so she nodded and stepped inside and past him, over to the couch. He joined her a moment later and the concern was still on his face. "Now pray tell, what is going on?" This moment was almost surreal, sitting here on the couch and quietly speaking to the man she viewed as a second father not hours after she feared him dead or seriously maimed. "Buffy called me a few hours ago and it sounded like she'd just been sobbing. What happened to Riley?" Giles' face fell just slightly and he looked almost...disappointed. "He broke up with her."

Willow jumped off the couch and the Watcher stared in utter confusion as a furious expression swept across her face and she started shaking. "What happened today?" She forced out, trying to regain some sense of calm before it was too late. "Well it was... She came over earlier today and started speaking some rubbish about him finding a job and leaving her. Buffy was in no shape to patrol so I sent her home and went out myself." He lifted an arm, showing off an ugly cut that was sporting fresh moment she saw his arm the look on her face grew even darker and Giles nearly had to force himself not to move away from her. "Willow, if I might ask, what is the meaning of this?" As quickly as the anger had risen, it disappeared and was replaced by a deep sense of relief and she started crying as she sat back down and pulled him into another hug. Bewildered didn't even begin to explain how he felt so Giles simply sat there and held her until she pulled away.

The pair sat in silence for a minute before she started speaking so quietly he had to strain his ears to hear. "I thought you were dead." Her tone grew slightly louder as she continued. "Buffy called me and she was sobbing so I couldn't understand what she said about Riley. Then she told me you were in the hospital and hung up before I could get an explanation. I just..." The realization struck that she had put her entire career in jeopardy in order to rush back. "I may have just lost my job because I picked up and left immediately so I could get back here just in case you were..." Her body was rattled by a deep sigh and Willow couldn't bear to repeat the thought that something horrible had happened to him. For his part, Giles was shocked that the blonde Slayer could be so careless about her actions. He felt a bit of anger on Willow's behalf but it was nothing compared to what she was feeling. She couldn't help but feel like this may have caused irreparable damage to their friendship, but before the brunette could mull it over the front door swung open and the woman in question rushed in with Xander close behind.


	32. Chapter 32

**CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO**

Before she could even say or do anything in reaction, Willow found the air in her lungs forcefully rushing out on account of Xander's bear hug. For a moment she allowed herself to be lost in his arms and the peaceful moment could have gone on much longer if it wasn't for his excited and hurried words. "Willow, you _did_ come back!" As soon as the words escaped his lips, the brunette male's eyes widened in horror and his blonde companion nudged him in the side. As the words first registered she thought nothing of them and it may not have been an issue if her observant eyes hadn't caught the way he and Buffy reacted. For a moment the meaning didn't hit her but once it did, she slapped him angrily on the arm and pulled away with a deeply wounded expression on her face. "You had something to do with it?" This was too much for her to take in all at once and immediately she began to feel overwhelmed as her eyes started to burn.

Time seemed to fall into slow motion for a moment before it suddenly sped back up as her friend since diapers tried to explain his motives. "Willow...Will...Come on, I missed you. We need you here to help us fight the good fight and all of us know you don't belong there anyway." Instead of soothing her anger his words simply fed more fuel to the flame and all of a sudden the events of the past few minutes finally hit her and she burst into sobs. Xander took this as her realizing the huge mistake she had made by leaving so he stepped forward and pulled her back into his arms. She was too caught up in her emotions to stop him or pull away again so they stood there for several minutes while the former redhead struggled to get herself in check. Buffy and Giles were standing back and watching the scene with similar expressions of unease, neither were sure what to do or say.

With his arms around her, the boy who was once dubbed The Zeppo was unable to see Willow's face as she finally got herself under control and the sorrow made way for the fury she had yet to release. Before she could do so however, he continued speaking. "See, you belong here with people who care about you. Nobody there will miss you if you decide not to go back." He was about to continue when a strange voice broke in and interrupted him. "I don't mean any disrespect but you have no idea what you're talking about." All four pairs of eyes swung towards the man standing in the doorway to Giles' apartment and of those only one recognized him. His appearance was enough to shock Willow out of her sob-induced trance and she ripped herself away from Xander, practically flying into the new arrival's arms. She stood there and held him close, leaning in and whispering "I don't know how or why you're here but...thank you."

Having got her message across, Willow pulled herself away from the newest arrival and faced her high school friends. She had absolutely no clue how Jeff Hardy had managed to find out where she was going or how to get there himself but his presence gave her the strength and calm to deal with the situation at hand. As her gaze moved around to take in the reactions of her friends she had to force down a giggle, knowing it wouldn't be appropriate at the moment. All three of them looked completely flabbergasted and for various reasons. Xander was wondering how in the world the former redhead had fallen in with this strange-looking man. He wasn't unfamiliar with men who dyed their hair, Willow had already dated one after all, but this guy had all colors of the rainbow mixed together not to mention he was well-muscled and covered in tattoos. Willow was far too innocent to be mixing in with someone like him and in that moment Xander knew he had to get his oldest friend away from him.

Buffy's thoughts were more focused on how she could get her friend away from him so that _she_ could have him. It didn't matter that her boyfriend had just broken up with her a few hours ago and if the shy brunette had someone managed to get his attention it shouldn't be difficult to steal it for herself. She offered him a flirtatious smile and her brow furrowed when he didn't seem to show a reaction to it. Giles' concern was far more practical...he just wanted to know why he hadn't thought to get a better lock on his door. At least Willow's friend had the good grace not to stomp all the way in uninvited, he seemed content simply standing in the doorway. Sighing, the older gentleman waved him inside and broke the silence. "You don't have to stand out there all night, just shut the door when you come in." Jeff nodded and stepped inside while Willow shut the door behind him.

While it was nice of Giles to invite her newest friend in, she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to remain in the same room as two people who had recently betrayed her. With a start she realized that wasn't the only problem and luckily for her, this gave her an excuse to leave and attempt to regroup herself. "Well, it's been nice to see you guys" (it was a struggle not to insert sarcasm into her words) "but me and Jeff have to figure out where we're going to stay so we should get going." For some reason Buffy's eyes lit up at this and the WWE superstar was the only one who noticed but propriety kept him quiet. His suspicions were further aggravated by the blonde's following invitation. "You guys can come stay at the house, my mother is gone for a business trip." The rainbow haired wrestler wasn't at all inclined to accept and he could tell by Willow's body going stiff that she wasn't either. An idea popped into his head as he grinned and threw an arm around Willow's waist, pulling her close to him.

A shiver ran down her spine at the intimate contact and she was so distracted she almost missed his next words. "That's nice of you to offer but I think Will and I would prefer to spend some time alone together. Right darlin'?" Words seemed to escape her at the moment so she simply nodded and leaned against him for affect, this time catching on to the expression of jealousy currently marring Buffy's pretty face. It was impossible for her not to feel a rush of satisfaction that she had something her more outgoing friend wanted and it was even easier now that their friendship was currently on the rocks. At the moment she was feeling a bit petty so she made sure to grasp his hand in her own and lean up to plant a chaste kiss on his cheek. With a bright smile that wasn't at all forced, she turned back to face her friends and waved at them with her free hand. "I'll do my best to see you guys before I go back but I can't promise anything. Next time, don't make it sound so serious that I put my career in jeopardy to rush back." Nobody tried to stop them as they left.


End file.
